The Bombyx
This is the red bombyx roving that I dyed up in class a few weeks ago. The top picture (A) is the roving skeined up, while (B) is the same roving spread out under artificial light. I love how the red sparkles in this picture -- it really looked like that even without the camera flash. It's amazing how the colors change with a little predrafting (C) but once spun up (D) the original color and intensity is evident once more.
The final skein (E) is 51 yds of 12wpi 2-ply; not bad for .7oz. I'm sure I could have gotten much better yardage if I'd spun the singles thinner, but with such a tiny amount I wanted to experiment to see what a chunkier silk two-ply would look like. The resulting yarn has such a wonderful feel to it; I can only imagine how slinky a scarf made from this would be. I have to say it was a lot harder to spin as a chunkier single, and I wasn't able to stay very consistent so this yarn has obvious thick and thin spots. The stuff definitely wants to be spun thin. It also catches on your clothes and on every dry spot on your hands while spinning. I want to play more with this fiber, so I got a few more ounces on sale at The Bellwether to dye up as soon as I get the chance.