I finally figured out why I was having such a hard time drafting this silk, making the pre-drafting so attractive. Each hankie is composed of layers of silk fiber, and to work with it you peel off the layers and spin them one at a time. Well, I was seriously misjudging how thin one layer can be. When I first started with this fiber, what I thought was one layer was really 2 or 3 or even 4. Now that I’ve figured out how to get to THIN layers, and gotten used to working with this silk, I’m not having to do the major pre-drafting any more.
It is definitely different to work with than the wool and wool-blend fibers I’ve work with up to very recently. It’s even different than the Tussah Silk I worked with last. I have to hold my hands much farther apart, and PULL much more firmly to get the fibers to slide until they are the thickness I more or less want.
I’m nearly done with this first bobbin / first packet of hankies. Tomorrow I’ll finish it and move on to the next packet.
Until then.
