When I got married in 1980, my late father, Paul Jordaan from Somerset East, gave me 40 Angora ewes as a wedding gift. Being raised on a Merino stud farm, I was familiar with the exceptional qualities of the beautiful fibre Angora goats yielded. With the support of my husband, the weaving factory was started on our farm, Morelig, which is situated 15 kilometres outside Darling in the Western Cape.

Mohair is very versatile and easy to work with. Once the mohair is dyed, the fibre absorbs the colour and gives the mohair a lovely sheen.

The first few years were spent on the manufacturing of curtains, runners and cushion covers. The husband and wife team, Johan and Jean Jooste, travelled throughout the country to sell my uniquely manufactured mohair articles. Through the years buyers became friends and my curtains are still in use in some of their homes, with the quality being as good as the day it was bought after some 20 or 30 years.

When the popularity of runners and cushions declined, I shifted my focus to blankets, shawls and scarves. The blankets are very popular with our overseas tourists as it is a proudly South African product, and is easy to travel with. It is a versatile gift – a comfy leg warmer for the older clientele – a warm cover over the bed to take the chill out of cold winter nights - a lovely decoration when used as a throw on the back of any chair.

Many women will confirm that their mohair blanket was a comfy companion throughout school, boardingschool and university and is still being used in their homes on a daily basis.

My spinners and weavers are young women who were born and raised on our farm. I trained them to treat mohair with the utmost respect. We work as a team and I am so proud to say that every single mohair article is handmade and inspected by myself and the ladies.