Sweet Mama! It worked!What you are lookin at is glourious fiber from MILKWEED! It is shiney and soft after it is carded. I think this will be best used blended with another fiber. I didn't add quite enough lye to the water and some green material lingers, but otherwise this is cool shit!
I went hunting for more milkweed and found a huge, and I mean HUGE, lot of swamp milkweed! I harvest about 10 stalks (barely even a dent in the population I found) and I am "cooking" the skins.Until next time...
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That is really amazing! So very cool and interesting. I wonder if it will spin like silk or rayon? Can't wait to see how you work with it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic idea! It's something naturally occurring. How environmental is the lye though? Does it clean your drains as you rinse out the fiber? The fiber has a sheen like silk! Looking good!
ReplyDeleteOh the lye is very caustic and I would think it would help the drains a little. Should pour the water down in the bathroom sink and let it sit a bit just to find out! This milkweed fiber is as soft as cotton and has the sheen of silk. It's totally awesome material!
ReplyDeleteThat second picture reminds me of those Greek flokati rugs... oh I bet you're having some great fun with that fiber!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is cool! I have milkweed in my garden, I'm going to try it!!!
ReplyDeleteHi! I couldn't find a followup to this post (i'm reading in october of 2011), did you ever spin the milkweed fiber? I'm very curious and about to start my own investigations. Would love to swap stories on this if you get a chance. I'm janinga on ravelry.
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