A few months ago we introduced Nistari Bombyx (naturally yellow bombyx) from India as combed top/sliver for spinning.  We now have REELED Nistari!

Yellow bombyx mori cocoons are found in SE Asia, Bengal and India.  Our yellow bombyx silk is from India, produced in the general region as Muga and Eri silks.  The locals call it "Nistari". 

Nistari is a different race than its white bombyx mori counterpart.  The yellow color is NOT caused by the food it eats--Nistari silk worms eat mulberry leaves, just like the white bombyx mori silk worm.

The cocoons are an amazingly intense golden yellow (cocoons, 3rd photo left). 

The yellow color is somewhat fugitive.  You can see the reeled silk isn't as deep a yellow as the cocoons.  Some color disappears during reeling.  To keep as much of the yellow color, use cold water only, although it may still lighten a bit with each washing. 

DO NOT use warm or hot water and NO hydrogen peroxide (in the soap or anything that has been bleached/whitened in the same wash basin), as this will definitely remove more of the natural yellow color.

REELED NISTARI BOMBYX:
We purchased two sizes of Nistari silk...singles and 3-ply.  This is the SINGLES--the THINNER of the two silks.

Our reeled Nistari Bombyx is super-super thin...This is a "singles" (so not plied). The photos are taken very close up.  The comparatively "thick" white thread that you see in the second photo (left) is our Arabella's Web 120/2 spun bombyx silk--included for scale. If you're not familiar with the size of 120/2 silk thread, it's a bit thinner than you typical sewing machine thread.

The Nistari Bombyx-Singles is about 28-30 denier.  How thin is is that?  My eye-ball comparison is it is thinner than a strand of my hair. 

YARDAGE: If I did my denier to yardage conversion correctly, singles is about 325 yards/gram or 16,250 yards per 50 gram skein.

The skeins vary in weight.  I have weighed each of the skeins and they range between 85-115 grams.  When you order, please indicate if you prefer a bigger or a smaller skein (the price shown is for a 115g skein).

Once your skein is pulled and weighed, we will adjust your price and then process your credit card. We will call you if we have any questions.

HANDLING THE SKEIN:
First, make sure your hands are smooth--I thought I was in good shape, but a strand of reeled silk grabbed onto an invisible rough spot on my cuticle.  Once disentangled, I used our hand-crafted lotion bar--I love this--and all was good going forward.

There is one skein tie (thin black thread) and one white tie holding the folded skein in half.  I'll be honest--I didn't undo the white tie as I was concerned I couldn't put the skein back into it's original state.

As with all silk, we recommend having your swift attached at 90 degrees from "normal", so the swift spins like a Ferris wheel (NOT around like a merry go round)

We have both wooden and wire swifts.  The wire swifts are lighter weight, requiring less tension to turn.  Because the Nistari reeled silk is so very fine, I opted to use the metal swift. 

   ***note about my experience with my metal swift:  My metal swift has vinyl covering the parts of the swift that presses against the yarn, so wonderfully smooth.  But when I was ready to remove the silk and I collapsed the swift, the silk snagged on the metal "joints" of the swift.  This is because the strands of silk are so skinny and light weight, they can end up where thicker yarn would never touch.   I solved this issue by putting a smooth cloth between the swift and the skein. The cloth doesn't have to go all the way around--just lay the cloth over the top of the swift, set your skein onto your swift and then expand the swift. When ready to collapse your swift to remove the silk, just rotate the swift until the cloth is at the top again, and then collapse your swift.

This silk is thinner than I will ever use, so I've even tried to wind the Reeled Nistari from the swift onto a bobbin.  My guess is an electric bobbin winder will move too quickly.  I would use an manual bobbin winder and be careful and very gentle.

I would expect Nistari-singles to also benefit from "resting" the skein. See "handling the skein" in Nistari Bombyx 3-ply

Color: Natural yellow (color is fugitive)