If you’re lucky enough to have your hands on some angora fiber—whether from your own bunnies or a trusted fiber farm—you’re in for a real treat. This luxurious fiber, harvested from angora rabbits, is known for its extreme softness, warmth, and that unmistakable fuzzy halo effect. As someone who raises Giant angora rabbits on a small fiber farm and spins my own angora yarn, I’ve had the chance to experiment with different blends, spinning techniques, and projects. In this post, I’ll share what I think are some of the best things to make with angora fiber, plus I’ll show you a few of my recent finished products: woven scarves made with handspun angora/wool blend yarns, cashmere, and alpaca.
What are the Different Angora Rabbit Breeds?
There are a few different breeds of angora rabbits, including French angoras, English angoras, German angoras, Satin angoras, and Giant angoras. Each has its own characteristics when it comes to fiber quality, ease of grooming, and guard hairs. French angoras, for example, tend to have a richer color and more guard hairs. This makes them easier to groom, but perhaps the fiber is a bit coarser. German angoras have a denser coat and can produce a lot of wool—great for high wool production. Satin angoras often produce less fiber, but have a beautiful, rich color and shiny coat. English angoras have fiber all over, including their legs and faces, which can make them difficult to groom -but they are so adorable!! Giant angoras are huge, fiber producing machines, with soft fiber and laid back personalities (my favorite breed.) Whatever breed you have, angora rabbit fiber is a luxurious fiber that deserves careful handling.
What Can You Make With Angora Fiber?
1. Pure Angora Yarn for Delicate Accessories
One of the first things many angora rabbit owners want to try is spinning pure angora wool. It’s incredibly soft and drapey, making it ideal for shawls, scarves, cowls, and floppy berets. I recommend spinning it with a fair amount of twist to hold the slippery fibers together. If you’re spinning with a drop spindle, I have a blog post with step-by-step instructions on how to spin wool that will walk you through the basic process.
2. Blended Angora Yarn for More Elasticity
While pure angora is dreamy, it can lack elasticity, which isn’t good for stretchy garments like hats, socks, and sweaters. That’s why I often blend it with sheep’s wool—particularly a wool breed with softness and bounce, like cormo or merino. This creates a springier, more structured yarn that’s great for fingerless mitts, sweaters, hats, and even Christmas stockings. You get the softness of the fiber with a bit more structure. Blending also helps reduce the extra cost by using smaller amounts of angora, a luxury fiber. I use a drum carder to create smooth batts and rolags, which I sell in my shop.
3. Other Angora Blends
In my opinion, angora blended with super soft, fine fibers is also a real treat to spin and work with. I love to blend angora with cotton, silk, or baby alpaca. These fibers all contribute to the drapey-ness of angora, resulting in beautifully fluid yarns and garments.
4. Woven Scarves With Soft Luxury Fibers
One of my favorite recent projects was weaving scarves using handspun angora/wool blend yarns. The wool I chose was from a local farm -making these scarves Louisiana grown. I also incorporated some cashmere and baby alpaca yarns (both incredibly soft) that I purchased from indie dyers to add even more softness and drape. These scarves are lightweight and warm—perfect for layering on cold days without bulk.
5. Felted Angora Projects
Angora fiber can be felted using wet felting or needle felting techniques. Because it’s a fine fiber, it felts quickly and easily. That’s good news and not so good news—you’ll need to be careful when washing angora garments or yarn, as too much agitation or sudden temperature changes can cause unwanted felting. But if you’re aiming to felt on purpose, angora adds a silky, fuzzy texture to felted accessories and small sculptures. One of these days I’ll make a tutorial just for felting angora fiber, but in the meantime, check out my wool felting tutorial, which will give you all the basics you need.
6. Dyeing Angora Fiber or Yarn
Angora rabbit wool takes dye beautifully, whether you use acid dyes or natural dyes like indigo, weld, or madder. The key is to handle it gently during the dyeing process to avoid felting. It’s much easier to dye angora yarn than angora fiber. That said, if you keep the temperature steady and handle very gently, it’s possible to dye angora fiber. The results are worth it. Check out my natural dye tutorials if you’re interested in that.
Tips for Spinning Angora Fiber
So, you’ve got a bag of angora fiber. Now what? First, take a few minutes to sort through it and make sure the fibers are all roughly the same length—ideally between 3 to 5 inches—for the easiest spinning experience. Most angora is clean right off the rabbit and doesn’t need to be washed before spinning, which makes it a joy to work with. You can spin it straight “from the cloud,” teasing it open gently with your fingers and letting its natural loft guide your drafting. If you prefer a more uniform yarn, angora can also be carded into batts, rolags, or roving, or even combed into combed top. It blends beautifully with other fibers like wool, silk, or alpaca, adding softness, warmth, and a signature halo to your final yarn.
Spinning angora is just like spinning wool, with one important difference to consider. The slippery texture means it takes some practice to know how much twist to put into the yarn. Add more twist than you think you need. If you don’t add enough twist, your angora yarn will slowly loosen and shed its fibers, resulting in a weak yarn or garment that falls apart. A drop spindle is a great way to start if you’re a new hand spinner. For spinning larger amounts, a spinning wheel with a high-speed whorl can help. All the basic spinning tips for wool apply to spinning angora, just be sure you add extra twist.
A Note About Stitch Definition
Here’s another tip as you consider what to make with angora fiber. Keep in mind that because of its fuzzy halo, angora yarn isn’t great for showcasing clear stitch definition. Colorwork and lace patterns may not show up well, so if clear stitch definition is very important to you, you might want to use angora more sparingly, or for basic solid projects where the texture of the yarn is showcased. That said, lace and colorwork patterns can look stunning in angora yarn: they will have a hazy, less-defined look to them.
Angora Knitting and Weaving Patterns
Here are some pattern ideas that, while I haven’t tried them myself, look like fantastic patterns for angora yarn and blends. Not all of these patterns use angora yarn for the photo examples, so in those cases you will have to use your imagination:
- Beret hat pattern
- A pair of vintage gloves with a soft halo. Impractical, perhaps. But stunning!
- A shawl or scarf that uses two yarns -angora could be used as an accent fiber
–Shawl
–Scarf
-Crochet Shawl - A Lacy cowl or scarf with pure angora yarn
- Mitts with a fuzzy angora finish for warmth and softness
- A knitted headband or necktie for an easy and quick winter accessory
- Textured scarf ideas:
–Knitted Scarf
-Woven Scarves
–One
–Two
–Three
Showcase Your Work: Angora Contests and Community
If you’re proud of your finished product and want to share it with others, the Angora Rabbit Breeders Association holds a yearly contest for angora wool, skeins, and garments. It’s a great way to connect with other fiber artists and see the amazing things people are making with angora rabbit wool. From shorn fiber to handspun yarn to hand-knit sweaters, it’s a fun event that celebrates the versatility and beauty of angora.
Caring for Angora Garments
Because angora yarn is so fine and delicate, I always recommend soaking your finished items in cool water with a gentle wool wash. Avoid agitation and sudden temperature changes, and lay flat to dry. Never put them in the dryer. With the right care, your angora garments will last a long time and continue to look beautiful.
New to Angora Rabbits?
If you’re thinking about raising your own angora rabbits, I have several blog posts that cover angora rabbit care—from housing and grooming to shearing and feeding. Raising fiber animals is a commitment, but it’s one of the most rewarding parts of my homestead life. Watching your own bunnies grow a new coat, shearing it, and spinning it into beautiful yarn is a full-circle experience that connects you with every part of the process.
Maybe you’re just starting with a drop spindle, or maybe you’re a seasoned hand spinner with a herd of French angora rabbits. Either way, there are so many great things you can do with this wonderful fiber. I hope this post gives you some inspiration for your next project, and if you’re looking for angora fiber to try out, check out the angora batts and rolags in my shop. Each one is processed by hand here on my small fiber farm—a real treat for anyone who appreciates the softness of the fiber and the connection to animals and the land.
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