One of the things about bamboo yarn or thread is that bamboo is an extremely fast growing plant, in both ways. Some bamboo strains grow as much as 4 feet in a 24 hour period, and all bamboo has the potential to grow to full height and girth in one growing season of 3 to 4 months ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo), and if you plant a hedge of bamboo in your yard, it will spread and take over the yard in a few years.
So, a lot of industries are looking into making things (like paper or yarn) out of bamboo as it's a much more ecologically sound idea than cutting down forests, and a lot more economically sound idea than having to plant new forests and wait 10 to 20 years before they can use the trees again. With bamboo, it's ready to harvest and be processed into products like yarn and hardwood for floors in 3-7 years. Ob lace: I've never tried to make any lace with bamboo, but from what I've felt of bamboo rayon in the stores, if I could find some thread small enough, I think it would have a lovely hand and would drape beautifully for a ruffle worn around the neck. Branwyn, who is not part of the bamboo industry or the yarn industry, but likes the feel and drapability of the bamboo yarn she has felt. On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 8:40 AM, Carol <nestalace.ca...@btopenworld.com>wrote: > Hi All, > > I have watched this discussion with interest, as it seems very apposite! My > daugher was given a lovely hat for her new-born little girl, made from > 'Bamboo' wool, and so soft, it was incredible. I know nothing of the > ethical considerations of the thread, but it certainly does seem very very > soft, and ideal for a very new baby! > > Carol - in Suffolk UK > 'Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day.' > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clay Blackwell" < > clayblackw...@comcast.net> > To: <laceandb...@aol.com> > Cc: <lace@arachne.com> > Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 12:40 PM > Subject: Re: [lace] Bamboo yarn > > > > Hi Jacquie and others who have commented on the bamboo yarn... >> >> I agree that the 100% Bamboo yarn feels like rayon... in fact, I think it >> essentially *is* rayon, made from bamboo... and I think the "milk" yarn is >> another form of rayon, but in the case of the yarn I saw yesterday, they had >> the sense to blend it with Merino wool, making it a lovely "confection"! >> >> The one distinction I could see in bamboo yarn (100%) was that it didn't >> have the glossy sheen of the old, familiar rayon, but a much softer sheen, >> which was desirable, in my opinion. Still, as I said, I think the blend of >> a more robust fiber with the bamboo would improve the texture and the hand. >> >> Clay >> >> On 1/27/2010 5:21 AM, laceandb...@aol.com wrote: >> >>> Brenda >>> On some bamboo yarn I bought in America, it is actually labelled rayon >>> from >>> bamboo fibre, which I think is a much more honest way of describing it, >>> and >>> rayon is exactly what 100% or nearly 100% bamboo feels like. >>> >>> Someone I was talking to thought that it was made from the inner pith of >>> the bamboo canes, and spun directly from the fibres there, a bit like >>> linen. >>> >>> I wonder how ecologically friendly these new fibres are, by the time the >>> raw materials are shipped to the factory, and then undergone some fairly >>> major >>> chemistry. They sound as if they ought to be, but I suspect they're not. >>> >>> Jacquie In Lincolnshire >>> >>> - >>> To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: >>> unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to >>> arachnemodera...@yahoo.com >>> >>> >>> >> - >> To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: >> unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to >> arachnemodera...@yahoo.com >> > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachnemodera...@yahoo.com > -- Per pale argent and purpure, two phoenixes counterchanged sable and argent each rising from flames proper. "It is sometimes the most fragile things that have the power to endure and become sources of strength." - May Sarton "Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living."- Albert Einstein "Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
