Silk Hankies

Nope, not the kind you embroider and then blow you nose on. I mean these kind:

Silk Hankies

These are mawata, or silk hankies. They are made by stretching several silk cocoons over a wooden frame. There they are allowed to dry, until they turn into something that very much resembles a silk hankie of the tear drying kind. (Read more about the process here.)

So, what am I doing with them, then? First, I’m pealing off each layer of silk:

A single layer of silk

And stretching it into unspun yarn:

Unspun silk yarn

Here’s a sample knit up:

A small knitted sample of unspun silk yarn

My goal is a pair of warm silk mittens, kinda like the ones the Yarn Harlot made.