Spinning silk

I have silk fiber (filament?) in two forms - hankies and "roving." The interesting thing about the hankies - when you peel them apart, each one is one cocoon - one very long fiber. The only reason to spin it is to get a thread that is thicker than a single silk fiber. My attempt to spin from a hankie was less than successful. I pulled the fibers apart and wrapped them around a paper tube to keep them from tangling. Then I spun the thread from the tube. My hands tend to be rough (even with lots of hand cream) and my fingers catch on the fibers. The result was a very inconsistent thread. It looks better after I plied it. I'm really going to have to keep practicing this.

I then spun from prepared silk roving. This was much easier, and I am pleased with the results. I plied the first spindle-ful and kept the second as a single. Perhaps I will attempt to weave something.

single, 2-ply, and 2-ply from a hankie

Although the silk roving is slippery, it isn't really much more difficult than spinning wool. However, this isn't a method that would have been used during the medieval age. Spinning from a hankie, once I have more practice, will result in a fine, smooth thread, suitable for tablet weaving, embroidery or loom weaving. Since the roving is made of relatively short pieces of fiber, it results in a "halo" of fiber ends because the silk has no crimp.