Sari Silk and Spinning.
I ordered some sari silk a while back as part of a larger order from World Of Wool. I am ordering wholesale so I ordered 1 kg of each of the colours I wanted. the first 2 look very similar here but the first has a lot of green and red and the second has quite a lot of black. I had expected the pink one to be much more purple. It is called Royal Robe. Every batch is different, so you are always taking a chance. It would be great if they took new pictures for each batch but I suppose that would be a big hasssle for them. And they do warn you so no complaining.
That is a lot of sari silk.
I did make up some small bags of it and sold them on the guild’s Facebook page. I will offer it again soon. I still have lots. I haven’t played with it much at all. So last weekend knowing it would be rainy at the market, so slow and I would be bored, I grabbed some of the silk and a spindle to try spinning it. I brought an older cheaper spindle because I knew I would probably be doing as much dropping as spinning. I was right. It is very short and very frustrating to try to spin, especially since I usually do more of a long draw. I tried for a while then gave up and plied the tiny amount I had spun.
Ta-Da…
I told you it was small. Here is a close up.
It is very pretty and shiny but I will not be spinning more this way.
Next was to try blending some with some wool.
I picked these two shades of merino. I think they are mallard and duck egg. They seem to be the same colour but have different saturations of the dye.
And these 3 sari silks to blend in. Looking now I see I picked the 3 primaries.
First I did the turquoise lagoon. I did a layer of the dark, then the light and then the sari silk. I carded it several times to blend it and then rolled it into a rollag
It is very subtle but I think it will add some shin and interest when I spin it.
Next, I did the Salsa, I did the same thing a layer of each of the wools and then some sari silk
And lastly the wildflower
Now I have to spin them up. They are not the neatest rollags but I think they will work. I will do some recarding if I have to but I hope I don’t have to.
12 thoughts on “Sari Silk and Spinning.”
Your drop spindle silk ball may be small .. but it’s beautiful.
The rolags look promising – the sari silk has produced pretty highlights in the wool so we’re looking forward to seeing the yarn.
Thinks lyn I am hopeful of the blends. I just stated with the yellow and will show some results next post.
I can see why you would be frustrated trying to spin the sari silk. I think the blends will be more practical since the wool will help to felt in the silk. Very nice color combinations. Hopefully, the spinning will go better.
Yes so much of it is really short. So far spinning is better.
Sari silk is a bit of a risk when ordering, but you really do have some gorgeous colours. Have to agree with you that spinning this stuff on it’s own is a misery. That said, the blends look amazing. The wool should help hold the silk in place. I have a blending board you can borrow, are you interested in that? It might be a great tool for this sort of work and lets you make lots of rolags in the same colour range. Love the colours and I’m looking forward to the results.
Thanks Bernadette. so far the blend is better. I do have a borrowed blending board and may give it a try later. Time and energy are what is needed now.
Beautiful colors and I agree with Lyn however small the spun sample it is gorgeous. A lot of beautiful silk to work with. Have fun!
Thanks Marilyn. they are so pretty and shiny, how could I resist.
I can only imagine the frustration of the short fibre and the spindle Ann (plus the rain – I hope it wasn’t cold rain). The end result was beautiful. The sari silk colours are so sumptuous and they have blended beautifully into the wool fibre. Great choice of wool colour. Looking forward to reading the next stage. (we have a very ill dog here so I’m not getting to read the posts as quickly as I would like).
I am hoping they spin up nicely and with less frustration now. I am sorry to hear about your dog. I hope he gets better soon. It is so hard when they can’t tell you whats wrong.