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Silk…
so many kinds, so many confusing names, names that can be describing
the fibers, the way it is woven, or the “hand” (the softness and drape) of
the material. Here are some basics
and definitions that have helped me.
Sericulture (the cultivation of silk) can be
traced back to 2640 BC… legend
has it that a Chinese empress somehow managed to drop a silkworm cocoon
into her hot tea, causing it to unravel. Regardless of the origin, China maintained an absolute
monopoly on the silk industry for 3,000 years until some intrepid and
enterprising monks managed to smuggle some silkworms into the West. Breeding silkworms can be tricky, and
after much experimenting and failures in Europe, the British empire and in the
Americas, today silk is almost entirely produced in the original
environments of China, Japan and India.
Each silk moth lays hundreds of eggs, which are
divided into half for reproduction and half to spin cocoons. Eggs destined to become silkworm
cocoons are cold-stored until the mulberry tree leaves start to bud. Then they are fed super-clean,
chopped mulberry leaves that are the same age as they are. (If the leaves aren’t dry enough,
aged properly, etc. they will produce inferior silk or none at all.) After eating this diet for a month,
they are ready to spin their cocoons.
Silkworm condos are the next step… huge wooden
racks are divided with cardboard strips and stacked, with a silkworm in
each compartment to keep the cocoons from tangling up.
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