Silvia,
I have spun some really pretty yarn from mill end top, left over from
the manufacture of Zephyr, which is 50% silk, and 50% merino wool. I
dyed the yarn a dark burgundy, and the 2 fibers did take the dye
differently. I used Cushings acid dye, as I remember. The silk is a
little lighter in color, and of course, more lustrous. It added a nice
depth to the yarn. It made a soft, flexible, drapey single. I used it
as a small warp stripe, and as inlay in a mostly wool plain weave fabric
that I made a kimono-style jacket from. One of my most successful projects!
Silk/wool isn't always easy to blend on your drum carder, but it depends
on what form it is in (how long the fibers are) and how fine the teeth
are on your carder. I just can't do it at all because my old Patrick
Green drum carder has coarse cloth on it...they don't make them like
this anymore! You do need to have the 2 things you are blending to have
fibers approximately the same length. Do a google search for The
Silkworker...she has some good tutorials on there.
Right now, there's a seller on eBay who is selling the already-blended
Zephyr top for a really reasonable price! I just bought a pound that
looks good (haven't spun any yet) for $20 (+shipping). Silk weighs
less than wool for it's bulk, so a pound of this stuff is lots!
Lynn C
Seattle
Harry & Silvia Stoddart wrote:
I have found a beautiful overshot shawl in Handwoven I would like to
spin the yarn for and then weave. They have used Zepher wool/silk
which is expensive, but I have lots of fleece and do not want to
purchase any more yarn or fibre unless necessary. I am thinking of
blending some silk with wool that I have and then spinning it. What
ratio of silk to wool should I use and what kind of silk should I
order? I was looking at Treenway Silks and don't know the difference
between many of the products. I would like to dye the yarn myself. I
assume the silk and wool would dye slightly differently. How do you
think the resulting handspun would look? I have never worked with
silk before so any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Silvia
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