The Angora goats of the Eastern Karoo, originally from the Tibetan Himalayas, are hairier than ever this month, having survived the winter and awaiting their spring shear.
South Africa produces 60% of the world’s mohair. After some washing and twining, their silky white locks will make unimaginably soft blankets, sturdy socks, scratchy jerseys and even scratchier scarves.
As I write this, with my new mohair “travel rug” rumpled on the floor around my feet, I am aware that spring may not be the most sensible time to punt blankets, even less so jerseys and scarves.
But the paradoxical beauty of a mohair blanket is that it is both cool enough to endure in summer and is the solution to the winter chill that not even a down duvet can ward off.
Also, mohair blankets are on special at the Mohair Mill Shop in the Western Cape. At R250 each for a small one (which is just big enough to cover a double bed), this is as good a reason as any to stock up on mohair for the summer.
Not indigenous to South Africa’s unforgiving semi-desert climes, Himalayan Angora goats arrived in Africa in 1838 from Turkey. In a mythical tone, an information pamphlet from Cape Mohair, the company that dominates mohair production in South Africa, tells of how the sultan of Turkey, after importing the goats from Tibet, sent 12 Angora rams and one ewe to South Africa as a gift to a British officer, Colonel John Henderson. The goats were thought by the sultan to be sterile, but were not, and so South Africa’s Angora goat population was established.
The Mohair Mill factory shop is part of a craft emporium at the apex of The Craggs, a small Western Cape town atop a cliff between Plettenberg Bay and Storms River. The emporium creates jobs for many residents of the town, but a great many more jobs are created by the goats themselves.
Until last week I was unaware that South Africa’s mohair industry is thriving and, because so many steps in the process of making mohair products have to be executed by hand, it is a labour-intensive industry.
The Mohair Mill’s productivity has increased to such a degree in the past two years that the mill has had to relocate to larger premises in Uitenhage, leaving behind a retail outlet and a token family of hot goats for petting and educational purposes.
The Mohair Mill Shop is located on Monkeyland Road, The Craggs. Visit www.mohairmillshop.co.za for directions and for more information