Can anyone suggest a good silk thread to use as gimp with YLI 100 silk thread?
What a "funny" coincidence... I've ben meaning to write about my latest "discovery" and here comes the question which addresses the very issue...
I have on my pillow a tripled version of Danish Little Hearts and I'm making it using YLI 100 (in light green) as the basic thread, with 3 shades of pink for workers and gimp (and light green Gutermann 100/3 as the "thick thread" in the footside and the headside).
What I'm using for both gimp and workers is Kreinik's Silk Serica. I discovered it, accidentally, when I was looking for something to use as gimp in my Lohr's class (Snowflake Quilt) at the IOLI Convention. I couldn't find anything that would be thick enough/not too thick to work with Gutermann 100/3, be lustrous (to provide better contrast to the matte of Guterann), be exactly the right shade of pink (a couple shades lighter than the deep rose of the Gutermann), and could be unplied (I was told that was necessary, but turned out not to be). Which is when Clay sugested I try Serica.
It's an embroidery thread, composed of 3, loosely twisted, plies. Its intended use is either as is, or unplied, so it unplies easily, though leaves a slight ripple/crinkle in each ply. I thought either all 3 or just 2 plies would do as gimp, but decided to check it first for washability/bleeding and find out if the ripples would disappear when the thread was wet.
What I discovered, when I started manhandling the single ply, is that each of the 3 plies will *further unply* into 5 very fine threads. Because it's filament, not spun silk, even the "sub-plies" are very smooth and strong, and they continue to be lustrous (and yes, the "kinks" disappeared. But they disappear even in just working, so you don't have to wet the thread to straighten it. And no, it doesn't bleed. I have not checked the shrinkage, but expect it to be no more than in any other silk).
It turned out that, in class, all I really needed was a single ply of the 3 -- it was not a "real gimp". So I had plenty left over, and decided to experiment with it. In the triple Little Danish Heart I'm working on (just to remind myself how to make PG <g>) I'm using 4 sub-plies (of the 5) as the worker thread for the hearts (hst), with 6 sub-plies as gimp in the first two rows. In the third (headside) row I'm using 6 sub-plies as worker and 9 as gimp. The 6 as worker are a bit too much -- makes the hst look like cloth. But 9 as gimp looks very nice to me -- I like a thick gimp in PG. The 4 as worker looks good, the 6 as gimp looks OK, though a bit thin for my taste -- would probably look fine in Flanders though.
My supplies list for the forthcoming Polychrome de Corseulles class in Ithaca (with Pompi Parry) specifically says *not* to use YLI and I assume it wouldn't approve of Serica either -- both are shiny, filament threads, and the orginal Polychrome was matte, spun silk. But when I come back from the class I'm certainly going to use them for my own projects; shiny may be tacky, but I like it :) And I think I'll probably also use it as gimp for projects in 80/2 and 100/2 cotton basic thread -- I like the contrast of matte background and shiny gimp...
My problem is that Kreinik won't sell retail, and the nearest shops that carry Serica are at least 50 miles away and none carries the full selection of colours/shades, which is what I'd need if I wanted to ply several into a single worker. But obstacles were made to be overcome :)
----- Tamara P Duvall mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland
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