I recently received 2 large skeins of fine reeled silk from a sari manufacturer in India courtesy of my very generous daughter-in-law. I am at a loss how to weave with it. It is about 26/28 dernier per the literature from the company. I was thinking of trying to find spinner to ply it. Could I use it doubled (or more). Any idea of what kind of sett?  Any help would be appreciated. Thanks - Pat

Comments

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 02:37

sandra.eberhar…

You may want to visit Treenway Silk's website for hints on working with filament silk.  One thing they suggest is to work directly from the skein and not to try to wind balls.  Based on my experience, I agree with that.  I made a gorgeous shawl using reeled silk as weft.  I did have problems with the pirns unwinding.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 02:41

Sue in VT

Hi Pat, I am traveling in Laos and just this week had a silk weaving lesson on a loom (Asian style) which was warped for me already. I had to pick out silk yarn and wind bobbins. Two single filament bobbins went in one shuttle, so I wove double thread which were not plied together beforehand. I would experiment a little with sett with two yarns, or maybe three on the warping board. Also, the silk wasn't wound onto the warp beam, but was hung overhead with weights in a bag of some sort. These are just some observations I've made. I'm definitely just an enthusiastic beginner, so do keep asking until you get the best advice from one of our wonderful experienced silk weavers. It's so worth it!
Tue, 01/06/2015 - 14:11

sandra.eberhar…

If you do decide to ply it, the look you get will probably be much different than by using the thread two ends at once, unplied, as knitting did above.  I spin and ply my yarns, but I'm not sure I would take on the project of plying this silk yarn.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 15:33

Queezle

I also have a collection of reeled silk from India.  It is gorgeous, and I take it out occasionally to look at it, but the idea of using it scares me.  I will be very interested to follow your progress, Pat.  Please do post your experiments, successful or not!

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 16:55

theresasc

you made me smile, "and I take it out occasionally to look at".  I have a cup rack, the kind that expand like a sissors hanging on a wall in my studio with skeins of yarn hanging on it that I look at:-)

Wed, 01/07/2015 - 16:45

debmcclintock

These type of silk skeins make excellent meditation objects as you look at them and envision endless projects. This is a perfectly acceptable path. However, if you want to make these skeins into projects & keep your sanity you need to add a step to your process before you wind a warp. It is much easier to wind off the skein onto a spool and THEN wind a warp. Sometimes skeins unwind effortlessly, sometimes not. It is much easier to move the tube you are winding onto thru the skein If you are trying to wind a warp and run into skein tangle problems....gah For simplicity here is a link to Hacyln's spools just for a visual. Most spools will fit onto pirn or bobbin winders with or without a shim. https://halcyonyarn.com/weaving/68500000/cardboard-spools-4 I also split my skein over two or four spools evenly so I can wind two or four warp ends at a time.
Wed, 01/07/2015 - 23:08

Pat Lipman

Thank you all for your comments and feedback. Still weighing my options. Will keep you posted.