CULTIVATED (BOMBYX MORI) SILK
Cultivated silk (also called Bombyx or Mulberry Silk) is the highest quality of silk. It comes from silkworms of the Bombyx moth that are raised in captivity and only fed mulberry leaves. Because of the strict diet, cultivated silk has a natural whiteness and sheen unrivaled by other fibers.
Cultivated Silk Top
SH-7002 – Price: $9.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Cultivated Silk Hankies
SH-7001 – Price: $14.00 USD per hanky bundle (approx 1.8 oz/50 g)
Each hanky is a single cocoon. A 50 gram bundle contains approximately 75 hankies. Spin from "the fold" or draft each hanky into roving for spinning by making a hole in the center of one hanky and gently pull your hands apart, spreading the silk fibers into a large circle. When the hanky roving is the thickness you wish to spin, break the roving circle and begin spinning! You can also knit directly from the hanky roving. One 50 gram bundle is enough to knit a narrow scarf of a substantial length.
Cultivated Silk Brick
SH-7085 – Price: $26.00 USD per brick
(approx 4.4 oz/125 g)
Silk bricks are combed preparations of degummed silk top wrapped into a brick-like shape. Just pull the brick apart to reveal a long, wide silk fiber that’s ready for a worsted spinning method.
Cultivated Silk Cap
SH-7086 – Price: $3.75 USD per cap (approx .6 oz/18 g)
One cap is made of 10 degummed cocoons that have been pulled over a bell-shaped form to create bell-like silk preparation. (Caps are sometimes called “bells” but technically a bell is a large bundle of caps.) Silk caps can be worked like silk hankies, by separating out the cocoon layers and poking a hole into the center of each and pulling this hole open to make a roving form that can be spun or directly knit.

Cultivated Silk Cocoons
SH-7080 – Price: $8.00 USD (40 cocoons, approx. .9 oz/25g)
Raw, silk cocoons (your purchase includes instructions on how to de-gum cocoons for spinning). These are the actual, natural cocoons made by the silkworm, with no sericin removed. (Sericin is the natural “glue” that the silkworm extrudes when making its fiber cocoon.) These cocoons still have the (dead) silkworm inside but that is easily removed by a degumming process (that removes the sericin from the silk) or by cutting open the cocoon. (Do NOT cut the cocoon if you’re going to use the fiber for spinning!) When the cocoon is degummed, it may be spun directly from the resulting fiber mass or dyed and then spun. The cocoons may be dyed without degumming if the fiber is not to be spun.
Cultivated Silk Rods
SH-7081 – Price: $5.75 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Raw, silk rods (your purchase includes instructions on how to de-gum the rods for spinning). The ultimate “waste-not, want-not” silk preparation, silk rods are the by-product of reeling silk from the cocoon. They consist of the “waste” filaments that get wound around the reeling machinery during the reeling process. This silk still contains the sericin (see description above) so needs to be de-gummed prior to spinning but may be used without de-gumming for 3-dimensional fiber projects. The packages contain a mix of short fibers (5-6 in/13-15 cm) and partially wound cocoons. They add texture to silk fusion and felting projects. They may be creatively spun and added to fiber batts for interesting yarn effects.
Cultivated Silk Cocoon Strippings
SH-7082 – Price: $5.75 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Coming from the shorter first silk extruded by the silkworm, these degummed silk strippings are often spun worsted, creating a smooth, matte yarn. Spin them as is, with slight teasing or carding, or use a cotton or fine carder and prepare them into rolags for spinning.

Cultivated Throwster's Silk
SH-7083 – Price: $5.75 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
This is another “recycled” by-product of the reeled silk industry. They come from the machine waste created from the twisting of filaments and are a mix of low, medium, and high twist fibers. These degummed fibers are longer than other waste silk and make a textured or smooth and shiny yarn. They are also an inexpensive silk to use in fiber blends.
Cultivated Silk Oblongs (Laps)
SH-7084 – Price: $9.50 USD
(approx. 1.8 oz/50 g)
These are large batts of carded silk that have been prepared like drum carded wool. Their origin is cultivated silk so they are brilliant white with a lovely shine. Spin directly from the lap with a semi-woolen spin. Or layer with wool for a fabulous sheen in felting projects. (Because the batts are difficult to separate into precise weights for packaging, the actual oblong weight is approximate but is as close as possible to the sales description and never under the described weight.)

TUSSAH (WILD) SILK
Tussah silk (also called Wild Silk) comes from the silkworms of many different moth varieties that live in the wild and eat a mix of different plants, such as oak leaves, plum leaves, and castor beans. The varied diet determines the color of the silk—commonly varying from an off-white to a medium beige. All bright white Tussah has been bleached. It has a slightly coarser fiber than Cultivated Silk and blends well with fine-staple wools. Many beginning silk spinners find Tussah silk to be a good first silk spinning fiber since it’s slightly less slippery than cultivated silk.
Bleached Tussah (Wild) Silk Top
SH-7007 – Price: $7.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)

Honey Tussah Silk Top
SH-7008 – Price: $7.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)

SILK/MERINO WOOL BLEND TOP…
Cultivated Silk 50%/Merino Wool 50%
SH-7010 – Price: $9.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Merino Wool 80%/Tussah Silk 20%
SH-7011 – Price: $5.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
SILK/FINE COUNT ALPACA BLEND TOP…
Fawn Alpaca 70%/Cultivated Silk 30%
SH-7020 – Price: $6.50 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Dark Chocolate Alpaca 70%/
Cultivated Silk 30%
SH-7021 – Price: $6.50 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)

Black Alpaca 80%/Cultivated Silk 20%
SH-7022 – Price: $7.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Cream Alpaca 50%/Merino Wool 30%/
Tussah Silk 20%
SH-7023 – Price: $6.50 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
OTHER SILK BLENDS TOP…

Merino Wool 80%/Cultivated Silk 30%/
Angora 20%
SH-7040 – Price: $10.50 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Tussah Silk 50%/Brown Cashmere 50%
SH-7030 – Price: $22.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Tussah Silk 50%/Baby Camel 50%
SH-7006 – Price: $10.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Cultivated Silk 70%/Seaweed 30%
SH-7005 – Price: $14.00 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
Cultivated Silk 51%/Bamboo 49%
SH-7004 – Price: $9.50 USD (1.8 oz/50 g)
© 2012, Saga Hill Designs,