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  1. rixende
    rixende says:

    I voted for you! You were the only guy who actually works with fiber, and not makes tools for working with fiber. I think you are a sho-in!

  2. sskipstress
    sskipstress says:

    I’m going to have to wait until I get home to vote because it’s an email thingy not a web thingy.

    Even your bio seems to concentrate on the web site you maintain and not on the fact that it’s a site that showcases your work and research.

    Makes me wonder if some of those woodworkers and engineers are also good with the fiber their tools are designed to manipulate.

    Not that I’m going to vote for them because I’m certain none of their stuff is as pretty as your dyed silks.

  3. admin
    admin says:

    I’m sure that a lot of them are quite good with their fibers. The bio was put in there by the site folks, not by me, so I just nodded and went along.

  4. jenmcd
    jenmcd says:

    LJ ate my comment. 🙁 I guess I’ll try it again…

    I voted for you because the picture included with this post sent me into throes of “OMG I MUST HAVE THIS!!!” That is absolutely scrumptious!

  5. admin
    admin says:

    I figured I had to put an OMG picture with it, so people would notice! 🙂

    I love making this stuff; I’m fascinated with the almost-perfect evenness that you can get with reeled silk. My twist and ply isn’t quite even in some places, though. This skein is made entirely from cocoons that I raised myself by hand; it’s about 3/4 of an ounce, and at 750 yards, in the neighborhood of sixteen thousand yards per pound.

  6. selkie_b
    selkie_b says:

    Wow… and WOW!

    Of *course* you got my vote, though I must say you have some seriously decent competition. I have to agree with everyone here mentioning that you seen to be the only one who actually works with the fibers themselves though.

    Still love this orange… on this flat screen LCD it’s seriously intense!!

  7. jenmcd
    jenmcd says:

    Wow. Do you sell your silks, or keep them all to yourself?

    I shall spend my time coveting, and wishing I had silk on the loom right now instead of cotton. *sigh*

  8. admin
    admin says:

    I figured out that I could make up to thirty cents an hour selling them. That’s only counting forty hours per thousand cocoons of raising time – I can actually buy them cheaper (about $80 per kilo) but hand-raising them is so satisfying. So needless to say, I just use them for special projects, and enter them in competitions, etc. I have occasionally traded with other artisans, because that way it’s easier to get an equitable exchange.

    You can get some very amazing silks from Habu – their “soft twist organzine” is heavenly. It’s actually the one I patterned this on.

    And for spun silk, Arfa Yarn Store on Ebay has great prices. I got a kilo of 2/30’s spun silk, for $65 including the shipping. They didn’t have 2/30’s in stock, so they spun it for me.

  9. jenmcd
    jenmcd says:

    Totally understandable. I will keep your suggestions in mind for when I do go looking for silk to weave.

    That orange, though… I love all colors, but that is my favorite.

  10. bronxelf_ag001
    bronxelf_ag001 says:

    ALL internet voting stuffs the ballot box unless there’s something to prevent it. Nature of same.

    I’ll trade you a pimp for your contest for a pimp for limeproject.org!

  11. sskipstress
    sskipstress says:

    Yeah, I’d be surprised that someone who’s good with wheels never played with spinning. Won’t stop me from loving your silk and voting for you because I already did it.

  12. jenmcd
    jenmcd says:

    That makes it even better! Anything in the pumpkin to coppery red scheme is A-okay with me. That it looks different in different light would add a cool depth to the piece it becomes. What have you done with that skein? Surely it hasn’t been sitting around since March 2005?

  13. admin
    admin says:

    Actually, it has. I want to eventually work it into a weaving project with probably a black background, and complement it with a bright golden mustard yellow and a gas-flame blue. But, I really want to make it ALL from silk I hand-raised – which I don’t raise a huge number of cocoons each year. So I’m working my way toward that eventually.

  14. jenmcd
    jenmcd says:

    Wow, that will be gorgeous once you have the materials to get it done. When that time finally does come, I trust you’ll share pics of your masterpiece with us.

    I’m going back to the Orangeganzine page to continue with my fibergasms. :o)

  15. admin
    admin says:

    I need to sit down and do a huge amount of throwing (twisting the silk to make it from filament into organzine) – I am getting ready for a big workshop, and hadn’t realized how many spools of filament I have lying around!

    Unfortunately, only 1 or 2 of them are from the hand-raised cocoons; the majority of it is cocoons from China. Not that you can tell much of a difference just handling it, but I’d KNOW, ya know?

  16. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    Voted

    vote for you–of course–and whilst I appreciate them, the niddy-noddy woodworkers just pale in comparison to that gorgeous silk.

    You mentioned that you were preparing for a workshop–do tell, is it open to the public, what’s it on?

    -Ames

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