These things are not silk yarn. You caught us again.
In fact, as much as they look like something that was delivered direct from a silkworm, they're not. They're by-products of industrial silk-reeling. When the silk is reeled onto spindles, this is the part at the centre that is so tightly compacted and full of sericin (a silkworm's glue) that they can't unreel it. So they cut it off and create one of the world's exceptionally lovely things, silk casings. Some are smooth and some are ridged. Artistic people make them into jewelry; fibre artists embellish things with them. Aesthetes put them in lovely bowls to simply admire.
We've been quietly sneaking in some pretty fantastic stuff onto the Sanjo Silk website.
The first beauty on the catwalk is this stunner. It's Golden Muga Silk, which is a wild silk. Soft gold is the natural colour of this yarn, and it's yum-yum-yummy. It's a 60/2, which means that it's pretty fine, great for weaving or machine knitting. See our 40-004 on the website for photos showing how wonderful it is when it's machine knit.
Next up is this unusual yarn. Hey, we try to bring you things that you can't get anywhere else, and this is one of them. It's Pedencal Tussah Silk, another wild silk. The pedencus is the little stem that attaches the tussah cocoon to a tree branch, and this yarn is spun from the fibre in this little stem. The soft brown is its natural colour; it has a soft, almost cottony feel. It's a 20/1 Single, and like the above yarn, it's lovely for weaving and machine knitting. Again, we've got some great images of this yarn machine knit on the website on the 40-007 page.
Another Sari Silk yarn. The two featured today are spun from the thrums (warp yarns) left from weaving silk saris. This one, 40-015, is a multi-coloured yarn; every time we get a new shipment, they're a new colour, and this time we're quite excited about how many colours each skein has. It knits up into a textural, heavy fabric and is a real showstopper.
Last but not least is our other spun Sari Silk yarn, 40-016. Although it too is multi-coloured, it "reads" magenta, so we call it Mostly Magenta. This yarn is uber-drapey and lovely. It knits up into a luscious, heavy garment.
We're still adding new stuff every week, and although we update the blog regularly, but don't forget to check the website often to be the first on your block with the latest goodies.
