In case any of y'all were wondering

I bought a hank of that recycled sari silk a little while back and crocheted a lovely little purse for myself. I did find it pricey, and it knotted like all hell, but it felt and smelled wonderfully exotic. And in the new bead store here, they have smaller hanks of it that seems even nicer than what I had (didn't buy any; used my cash to treat my children to lunch out). I did find the occasional bit of stiff stuff that resembled hay, but nothing that I couldn't pick off easily. Did I mention that it knotted like all hell? And tangled every stitch or two?

Perhaps the smaller stores I can access here have sourced a different brand/quality? Or perhaps your swapmate unfortunately found an inferior hank? I've heard that there are differing grades of the recycled sari silk; craft being one that is apparently inferior to knitting/garment grade. My LYS couldn't confirm this, though.

My sympathies on the ordeal....

Michelle

Hi Wooly,

I treated myself to some of that yarn a couple of years ago for Mother's Day. It was smelly too, but not so bad as yours sounds. For me the worst thing was that it went from being absurdly thick to frighteningly thin (1 little thread). I was sure the stuff would break. Also, it knits up really heavy, so I wouldn't make a sweater out of it. I did make a scarf that went bad. My fault, not the yarn's. I was facinated with how it was made and the weird "hand" of it, but I probably wouldn't use it again. I never thought of washing it before I used it. I'd like to know how that works out.

Hesira

Hi Wooly,

I treated myself to some of that yarn a couple of years ago for Mother's Day. It was smelly too, but not so bad as yours sounds. For me the worst thing was that it went from being absurdly thick to frighteningly thin (1 little thread). I was sure the stuff would break. Also, it knits up really heavy, so I wouldn't make a sweater out of it. I did make a scarf that went bad. My fault, not the yarn's. I was facinated with how it was made and the weird "hand" of it, but I probably wouldn't use it again. I never thought of washing it before I used it. I'd like to know how that works out.

Hesira

In article , Wooly wrote:

Hello Wooly:

As I just mentioned in a previous posting, I have bought a plastic zipped see through bag of recycled silk sari threads, 11"x8"x5" On the bag it states that these are 100% silk fiber from recycled mill ends of silk cloth used in the making of Saris. It comes from Nepal as part of a community outreach program. My silk also smells. I would say it is plain good old sweat, as well as some milling oils and dyes smells, and also the smell of silk gum. No it is not a pleasant smell, but it is nothing that you can't get rid of though. Silk is supper strong. Also we do talk about recycled silk. Silk of used saries, and keep in mind that (at least mine does), it comes from one of the poorest countries in the world. No soap, no deodorants. We have a foster child in Nepal, and she and her family ( Mother father, and 5 kids) live in a one room house. No toilet, no running water, a small fire on the floor for cooking and warmth. I guess it is a huge culture chasm and hard for most of us to imagine what that is like. I paid for my bag $40 Canadian dollars. I love the colours and also that these were worn by women, just like me, I feel some kinship. Also there is an helping out, as well as buying something you love and want to work with. I have also bought the skeins. They were also not all that clean, but again I washed them and knitted and crochetted with them and the smell disappeared with the use of some hot water, and soap. I have a feeling that whoever traded with you was not trying to deceive you, I think she was passing on what she had bought as it comes from the coop.

I hope to have a lot of fun with this, and will let you all know how I make out, smell and all....LOL

Els

Wooly, I see your frustration! I didn't understand what the picture was, at first!!!

I remember I did a little search about Sari silk, I hadn't heard about it earlier, and thought it would be lovely to get some. Then I read that "there is Sari silk - - - and there is Sari silk..." The quality differ highly, and you should be sure what quality you will get, some are very stiff with lots og hamp-like bits, and some are softer and thinner and much better to work with. As I most likely had to order it from "Over-The -Pond", I found out it wasn't worth it, as long as I could see it with my own eyes befor buying. Sorry to hear you are disappointed, But I know you don't give in easyly, so I look forward to hear the end of the story! ;-)) AUD ;-))

"Wooly" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Hi Aud!

There is a shop in Stockholm (maybe more than one) carrying sary silk yarn. I bought there some sary acril yarn (very similar but not so expensive) and it wasn't dirty at all. Maybe the difference was that it came from worn out sari and not from sari farm junk, who knows. Anyway, I wonder about the working conditions of people making the yarn Wooly got, GOSH!

Hugs,

Anna Maria

Aud wrote:

Thank you wooly for this post ,, when i bought [ several years ago]an old Sari and used the Good parts to make a festive skirt +jacket , i had a very nasty smell from it .... since it has loads odf silver threads in it, i was reluctant to wash it , but just as well reluctant to give for dry cleaning ,,,, thus i aired it [ out side in well windy but no sun place .... than i slightly washed it with shampoo ,,, than i closed it in a bag , added good smelling parfums and squezed the air out of it ,,,, left it thus for a MONTH ,,,, when it came out it never reeeked again ??? have no answer to why and how ???? mirjam

OMG Wooly, sounds awful, you may have to un-spin it and spin it all again, you'd have done better to have had the raw silk...gosh..poor you, wouldn't fancy that job at all.

hugz cher