Not long ago I was offered the opportunity to knit something out of Manos del Uruguay’s newest yarn, Cabrito. Cabrito is a laceweight mohair dyed in Manos del Uruguay’s signature dying methods creating 12 gorgeous colorways on soft, fluffy yarn. Cabrito is an 80% mohair/20% polyamide blend and comes in 25g skeins with 230 yards/210 meters apiece.
Fairmount Fibers, the US distributor of Manos del Uruguay, offered me my choice of colors in the Cabrito (I selected Huarache), and were generous enough to offer a second skein if I wanted to hold the mohair with something else. I jumped at the chance and added a skein of Alegria Grande in Petal to my order.
Right away I knew I wanted to knit the Bandana Cowl by Purl Soho, a bulky-weight cowl that I wanted to wear around my neck all winter long. Both yarns wound up easily and with a minimum of shedding – a bonus for any mohair! Holding both strands together was easy, and this cowl knit up in a matter of just a few evenings.
I will say that I was surprised at how the colors played together. When I chose Huarache I had initially thought to pair it with a teal color, so in my mind the project was going to be more blue. But what I ended up with was a lovely southwestern palette of muted pinks and oranges with hints of blue. They aren’t my normal colors, but they play beautifully together.
This was a delightful project to knit over the holidays, while the temperatures dipped outside and family gathered inside.
As a final note, when I shared my finished project on my podcast, a viewer brought my attention to the recent controversy over mohair yarns and some of the unethical treatment of angora goats that was revealed in 2018. I have to say that I was unaware of the information before I selected the yarn, but I did do my research once the matter was brought to my attention. Manos del Uruguay is a certified member of the World Fair Trade Organization and is committed to the principles of safe and healthy work conditions, better environmental practices, and transparency and accountability among others. Manos del Uruguay yarns appear on several lists of eco-friendly yarns that I was able to find, and I am confident that they are sourcing their materials in an ethical way. So if you’re itching to try mohair, now is your chance!
A special thank you to the folks at Fairmount Fibers who sent me a skein of Cabrito and a skein of Alegria Grande (retail: $42.80) for free. I received no other compensation for this review. All opinions and photos are my own.