In addition to our White Eri Silk combed top/sliver, we stock Red Eri Silk sliver from India. Our Red Eri Silk is a wondrous brick red—dyed the same color as the cocoon.
The red color (seen in the red eri cocoons) is naturally fugitive. Typically the degumming step (removing the sericin from the silk cocoons is one of the steps to process the silk into roving) removes the natural-red color, making a creamy-white roving.
We were told that our red eri silk was processed in a way that required very little of the sericin to be removed, retaining the lovely brick red color. But in 2022, the truth emerged and our red silk eri has been dyed.
We’ve learned that if you soak the red eri sliver in water with a touch of mild soap (e.g. original blue Dawn®) the red color stays in tact, even when sharing the bath with white eri silk and natural tussah silk.
But if you soak it with other items that are not their natural color (specifically bleached tussah), the ‘fugitive nature’ of the red color will stain the other items sharing the bath.
Diane de Souza hand-spun and knitted a swatch for us.
Available in 50g (1.8 oz) or 200g (7 oz) packages.
