Recently, there have been two new fibers released to the public market made from organic materials. The first is the fiber made from soybeans called SOY SILK. The next is made from corn (maize) called INGEO. I think these are very exciting new developments as they can also use products that often are wasted like the meal left from pressing oil from soy or corn. The process is also more organic than the production of other cellulose fibers like rayon as they use digesting enzymes to break down the raw organics, rather than toxic chemicals.
The basic process involves taking the seeds and mixing them with water and the enzymes. This produces a slurry that is forced through spinnerets (rather like a fine nozzle showerhead) and rapidly drying the spun threads. This can be cut to length to make spinning into yarns easier.
While both fibers have the sheen of silk, they are cellulose fibers like cotton or linen and need an alkaline dye to dye them colors. Acid dyes which work on "real silk" which is protein fiber –won’t work on artificial silks.
I have spun small amounts of each fiber. The handle is hard to describe. Both are less slick than real silk and feel much like spinning high quality silk noil. But they have sheen and are more slippery than cotton fibers, and the sheen survives spinning so yarns do not have the matte look of cotton. . It lends itself well to a long draw and fine spinning like cotton, but you can spin with a light touch and make a fluffy thicker yarn without plying. It is an inelastic fiber like cotton, so make sure your gauge is right on or the garment can "grow" the way cotton garments do. It has a very nice drape and handle. I enjoyed working with it, and will definitely get more to make a few tops and shawls for summer wear.
Soy Silk Fibers
Spftex.com
http://www.spftex.com/
SoybeanFibre.com
http://www.soybeanfibre.com/english/abou...
Ingeo Corn Fibers
http://www.cargilldow.com/ingeo/home.asp
A place to purchase these fibers for hand spinning and knitting are:
In the USA and Canada
Southwest Trading Co.
www.soysilk.com
Ebay.com
http://listings.ebay.com/pool2/listings/...
Have fun checking out these new fibers!
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