Products Show to be held at the London Champs on Saturday 9th October. Entries to Sandra Orr by post or bring them on the day but ring Sandra the week before so she can organise the paperwork and show. Sandra is our products secretary and her address and phone number are in your yearbooks or on the clubs website.
I was born in South Africa and spent the whole of my childhood in Pretoria and Cape Town. My maternal grandmother lived about a mile away in what could only be described as her own private zoo. As I was her favourite grandchild I was her very willing apprentice and shared her love of nature from a very young age. Apart from a large fish pond she designed and built almost unaided there was an enormous aviary poultry of all sorts, a few donkeys, ponies and horses and two or three small tame monkeys. But the greatest delight for me were the four angora rabbits – a pair of whites and a pair of sables. She also bred a few Sealpoint Siamese cats and Po pomeranian dogs so even with such a huge choice the angoras were both my Gran’s and my undisputed favourites.
If you are interested in starting to learn to spin then you can buy drop spindles from Lesley of the National Angora Club by e-mailing her at skyrackangoras@hotmail.co.uk.
She has two types of wooden bottom whorl spindles for sale, a large and small version.
The large spindle is a 2.5 inch whorl, 9.75 inch long shaft and approximately 34g in weight. It is suitable for spinning wool and alpaca and plying Angora wool and to buy is £5.50 + P&P
The small spindle is a 2 inch whorl, 7.25 inch long shaft, approximately 22g in weight. It is suitable for spinning Angora wool and silk. To buy this one is £4.50 + P&P.
If you want to read more about the Angora rabbit then there are a few books which are available for sale from the National Angora Club and have been written by members of the club including Lesley Hordon, Barbara Pratley and Yvonne Hobbs.
Four great books for you to read on the Angora rabbit and if you are interested in buying any of the books contact Lesley via e-mail at skyrackangoras@hotmail.co.uk. Prices of the books are under each photograph.
Although the coloured wool is of no interest to the commercial spinning mills, it has always been highly prized by hand spinners for its subtle delicate shading and soft colours. Angora rabbit wool is estimated to be many times warmer than sheep wool.
At present commercial angora wool production in this country is not an economic business as food and labour costs far exceed the price paid per kilo of wool.
The exhibition Angora has an impact on the general public quite unmatched by any other breed. A first class specimen, expertly groomed and presented, whether it takes top honours or not, will always steal the limelight, and many of our enthusiasts today owe their introduction to the Fancy to seeing one at a show. Breeders of other varieties airily dismiss the breed as one for people with time on their hands. This is not so. In the ranks of Angora enthusiasts we have folk from all walks of life, the majority of whom put in long and uncertain hours at work, have families and homes to look after, plus a job, but still find great relaxation and satisfaction in the grooming of an Angora. It is a breed which offers a challenge, calling for extreme patience, perseverance and tenacity of purpose from those who take it up. It can provide heartbreaking disappointments, yet the fruits of success seem doubly sweet when eventually attained. Success cannot be bought. The most wonderful champion can have its show career abruptly ended by one careless grooming by a novice, and though very occasionally the born groomer does appear, for most of us it means a long hard plod to the top until we have mastered the art of grooming. The show career of the English Angora is very brief, seldom lasting beyond the age of 7½ months, the exception being some coloureds, which can sometimes be shown for two or even three years if plucked when moulting. Once enslaved by the charms of the Angora, so many of us become devoted to the breed for life, whether successful or not.
This little baby Angora rabbit has damaged ears sadly and both ears have dropped or folded over as opposed to standing upright. It is not known what causes the damage, it could be by being sat on by the mother or one of the other baby bunnies or could be down to the high temperatures recently. It could also be a defect from birth but in this case the baby was born with both ears upright, then lopped one ear and now both. Gelatine supplements have been added to the water to see if this helps the ears to straighten as well as regular gentle massaging of the ears to see if this helps. All the other babies in the litter have good upright and straight ears.
The classic English Angora comes in one of the standard colours, and has well woolled and tufted ears (tassel tips). The rabbit has a fringe, with wool long and thick between and behind the ears. Wool on the cheeks is long, but wool around the eyes and the rest of the head is short (the clear face).
The National Angora Club sells Angora rabbit wool which comes from their members Angora rabbits on a regular basis when they are ethically clipped every 3 months causing no harm to the rabbit in any way. So if you would like to buy some for either spinning or felting work contact Lesley by e-mail at skyrackangoras@hotmail.co.uk with your choice of type of Angora rabbit wool and colours and quantity required. Angora rabbit wool is available to buy mail order so contact Lesley to order yours for your next wool project and happy spinning or felting. More details on the pricing of the wool and colours below with a selection of photos of actual Angora rabbits to show the wool colours in situ.
This is the best quality spinning wool and sold in clippings from individual Angora rabbits ranging from 25 – 75g with a staple length over 2.5 inches. Each bag is priced individually at 60p per 5g. This is fine wool from back and flanks, 2.5 inch-3 inch staple. Wool is ethically sheared with scissors, with the rabbit sat on the owner’s knee and unrestrained. Wool is traceable to the breeder and name of the rabbit. Example prices include:
This is second quality felting wool which is coarser and sold in clippings, 8 – 25g. Each bag is priced individually at 30p per 5g. This is coarser wool from the tummy and chest of the Angora rabbit. It is also shorter lengths and easier to felt with. Wool is ethically sheared and traceable as above. Example prices include:
With such a large proportion of our members intending or already engaged in the making of angora knitwear, a little advice on the subject may prove useful. Some, indeed, are already well experienced hand spinners of sheeps wool and are exploring the possibilities of angora.
As with any handicraft, preparation is of premier importance. To make a first class garment it is essential to use raw angora matching in colour, texture and length (ideally 3” excluding tips], to produce a garment of even shade and fuss. Avoid using wool from the belly as this is much shorter and of a different texture and colour. The first coat that an angora produces is too soft to make a serviceable garment, in fact I prefer wool from a rabbit not less than eight months old. The outer growth of a show-coat has a limited use if plucked, the long wool being suitable only for such items as hats or head squares where there is very little friction, but it will have very little fluff. A clipped show coat is useless as will contain several growths of varying lengths. Do not attempt to spin anything less than two and half inches long, and all wool must be quite free from mats or the slightest webbing. Good yarn demands free flowing material.