Above: *new* Silk/Cashmere and Silk/Retted Bamboo colorways. L-R: Silk/Cashmere 'Fantasy Peacock', Silk/Cashmere 'Caribbean Dream', Silk/Cashmere 'Grasslands', Silk/Retted Bamboo 'Cedar Chest', and Silk/Retted Bamboo 'Mountain Meadow'. See more photos in gallery below.
This year, in honor of 65 Roses "double donation month," we've dyed Silk/Cashmere and Silk/Retted Bamboo for the first time. These join our other silk blends: Silk/Cotton, Silk/Suri Alpaca and Silk/Yak.
During June, all of our hand-dyed and hand-painted Silk Combed Top/Sliver are designated honorary "65 Roses" colors. We happily donation 20% of all of silk top sales to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, in honor of Andrea's angels, to help find a cure.
**keep checking back as we continue to dye more colorways over the next couple weeks**
SILK/CASHMERE BLEND
This is a lovely blend of 85% Bombyx Silk and 15% Cashmere. It doesn't take much cashmere to create a subtle halo to your spun yarn.
Cashmere is luxuriously soft, fine and lofty, providing lightweight warmth. The addition of silk makes cashmere more affordable and durable as well as adding luster. Cashmere provides silk a downy softness.
CLICK HERE to see all the Silk/Cashmere colorways. Fiber length is 4.5– 5 inches long.
SILK/RETTED BAMBOO BLEND
Our blend is 60% silk and 40% retted bamboo.
Our silk/bamboo blend is special as it is "retted" (processed similarly to linen) rather than "extruded" (like rayon). Spin as you would a silk/linen blend.
Blending bamboo with silk brings a cool and crisp almost papery feel to the silk while softening the bamboo. And, bamboo fiber is able to absorb and evaporate perspiration quickly, making it cool, breathable, anti–bacterial and good summer wear.
We dye for silk, so the retted bamboo in this blend doesn't dye as fully as the silk.
CLICK HERE to see all the Silk/Retted Bamboo colorways. Fiber length is 5-6 inches long.
SILK/COTTON BLEND
Our blend is 55% silk and 45% cotton.
This silk/cotton blend has a short fiber length (1inch to 1.5 inches). Spinner Kim used a walking wheel (aka great wheel), using low tension spinning off the point. Kim loved spinning our silk/cotton blend--and she confessed that she typically doesn't enjoy spinning cotton! The 55% silk in our blend made the difference.
Kim believes that a chakra or small Russian spindle would also give great results with this short fiber length.
Staci loves spinning our silk/cotton blend. CLICK HERE to see a 10-second video of her spinning on her e-spinner. It's soothing and hypnotic!
CLICK HERE to see all the Silk/Cotton colorways. Fiber length is 1-1.5 inches long.
SILK/SURI ALPACA BLEND
Our blend is 50% silk and 50% Suri Alpaca. The silk/suri alpaca just loves the dye and the colors are rich and saturated.
Suri fiber is prized for its unique luster and superb soft, slick handle. It is used primarily for producing fine textiles and elegant knitwear requiring a soft, flowing and draped appearance. Combine this luster with silk and the result is heavenly. Yarn spun from this silk/suri blend has a distinct ‘halo’ and a wonderfully soft feel.
The white suri alpaca in our blend was raised in Florissant, Colorado, at Hay Creek Station.
CLICK HERE to see all the Silk/Suri Alpaca colorways. Fiber length is 5.5-6 inches long.
SILK/YAK BLEND
We had requests to dye our 55% silk/45%yak sliver. I love how the taupe-y grey shades all the colors--really stunning!
This silk/yak blend has a short fiber length (1 to 1.5 inches). One spinner used a walking wheel (aka great wheel), using low tension spinning off the point. At SOAR, people spun on a chakra and a small Russian spindle. An e-spinner also gave great results with this short fiber length.
CLICK HERE to see all the Silk/Yak colorways. Fiber length is 5.5-6 inches long.
