Silk and Wysteria Vines

Before: Hand Dyed Tussah Silk Roving

and

After: 140 some odd yards of Wysteria Handspun

I have been coveting a few small 4 ounce packages of silk roving for awhile now. Every time I prepared to dye I would pull the bags out as if I might actually use them and then somehow they would always find their way back into the storage closet. I suppose, I was too fearful that whenever or however I dyed the silk it would definitly ruin it forever and gone with it would be any redeeming chance I might have at spinning pure silk.

I was fully aware that such a fear was completly illogical, but then again most great fears are.

When my sister-in--law visited, I seemed to finally get the courage to go for it. I told myself I was dying it to please my little niece who begged me to dye it the color of the wysteria vine on the trellis in our backyard.

Sooo, I grabbed some lilac dye, closed my eyes and splashed it headlong into the hot pot. When I pulled it out it was blue, mistake number one. When it dryed on the clothes line the fiber felt hard and crisp to the touch, mistake number 2. Yet, when I finally spun it up the colors melded into a beautiful blue tinted purple and the fiber softened to a dreamy buttery texture, perfectly smooth and absolutely delicious.

Now to spin the fawn alpaca that has been sitting next to the silk roving and seemingly experiencing the same type of fearful rejection.

Comments

[Nancy]

oh my goodness. i would never know that any mistakes happened in the making of that beautiful yarn. i can't wait to see what you do with it. your yarns so make me wish I was a proficient knitter!

[Faith]

So nice! I didn't particularly enjoy my first silk spinning experience, but this makes me want to try it again- lovely job!