> > I've seen posts expressing satisfaction with spun silk for > > making bobbin lace. Has anyone compared spun to reeled for > > this purpose? From: Brenda Paternoster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Spun silk is easier to work with - reeled silk being very smooth and > shiny is slippery and doesn't stay on the bobbins so well. Really > it's down to personal preference
The only reeled silk I've used so far is the unboiled 3-ply "frog hair" that Lia Baumeister-Jonker uses for Chantilly. It's quite wiry. I've been learning to spin silk and got to handle some home-boiled reeled silk. Home boiling doesn't get all the sericin off, even after a long boil time, so it was unpleasant stuff--sorta lumpy and with rigid sections (where a bunch of plies stick together with remaining gum). Apparently, you have to add a pretty strong alkali to the water while boiling to get it truly clean. Silk that's been fully cleaned and shaped into "hankies" or "caps" spins easily, but makes fuzzy thread. It's not chopped up but you're spinning many plies together and they're not aligned end-wise. They're also (each) crinkly. We also tried silk "sliver", which is chopped into rather long staple (several inches, anyway) but then carefully aligned and straight. This is very difficult to spin because it's so slippery. I imagine it would be a slippery thread when it's spun, even though it's not whole filaments. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA (formerly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
