Recently I decided to start a weaving project using silk yarns, instead of my usual wool. I started referencing silk yarns for weaving on the computer and found there was a lot of information. I found myself overwhelmed by multiple sites with either differing information or tangents of unnecessary information. I compiled all the information I needed for myself, and posted this article for anyone in my situation to reference. This is a quick reference guide for anyone wanting information about types of weaving silk yarns. It is designed to save time and unnecessary stress and frustration.



Here is a quick overview of silk.

Silk comes from the cocoon of a silkworm. When the silkworm is ready to molt, it excretes ?fibroin? and ?sericin?, two natural proteins. It then rotates its body 200,000 times in three days creating a silk thread the size of 12 football fields. It creates its cocoon with this silk. For markets it is kept in its ?green? state in order to disallow the pupa to mature. There is a 2 week time period when this must be done, otherwise the pupa matures and excretes a brown juice, which disintegrates the silk cocoon.

Sorting the cocoons and opening the silk produces three grades of yarn. Reeled, spun and noil.

Reeled:

This is the highest quality of silk, only perfect cocoons can be used. The cocoons are unraveled 6-20 at one time, because one strand is too fine to be used alone. This new strand will look similar to a human hair strand. In the past these reeled silks were commonly used for large industrial weaving looms. Recently however, it has become available to hand weavers. Be aware if you plan to use reeled silk in your loom. The yarns are slippery and will slip and creating a tangled mess. It might take some practice/trial runs before you start your project, don't fret. Also, skip the ball winding process. Because of its slickness, it's best to wind your warp and shuttle right from a sideways clamped swift. Better still, having a few swifts saves tangling frustrations with any silk yarn. When starting a project with silks, the thickness and twist are most important. Always check samples and the yardage available before starting. Reeled silk that has twist added is called thrown silk. Thrown silk comes in two separate types: organzine ? which is tightly twisted and plied and used as a warp, and tram ? which has only a slight twist, and is usually used as weft.

Spun silk yarn:

This silk is the weak filament from the cocoon. It is the ?left over? from the reeling process. The damaged, discolored, or uneven shaped cones are the raw material for this beautiful, cream colored silk yarn. The fiber is cut into uniform lengths and carded to remove tangles and any brown pupa from the cocoon. This silk is most common for hand weavers. This high quality silk yarn is still slippery, so a good tip is to use an empty paper towel tube put on the arm of the ball winder to keep the yarns tidy. Handle as little as possible to resist fluffing and pilling.

Noil or Bourette silk yarns:

These are the left over fibers from the pupa. They are short strands which has less luster and body as the others, resulting in a lower quality spun silk. Noil has the strongest silk odor because of its impurities. These odors can be lessened by washing; however there is a possibility it will return when wet. Noil silks are easier to use, however it is best to tug on the strand to ensure the strength for warp. The majority is good for warp but single ply yarns are easily broken so might be better as a weft.