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Thursday 23 June 2011

Worms, worms, everywhere!

Just thought I'd give you a quick update on the silkworms.  They're growing at a phenomenal rate, and yesterday they started shedding their skins for the first time.  It seems to have given them a bit more freedom to grow, must have been a bit restricted with the old, tight, skin.  Photo :-


I think tomorrow they're going to have to go into a bigger box - they're crawling over each other in their present one.

Saw these weeds at a friend's house yesterday, and recognised them as horsetail or marestail.  Apparently it's possible to get a green colour from them, so I picked a carrier bag full and brought them home.



Today I chopped them into pieces and put them in a large pan of water to heat.  I boiled them for about an hour, and left them to cool.  When I checked the colour of the water this evening, it's very weak and watery.  I really can't imagine them dyeing anything pale yellow, let alone green.  Maybe it was too late in the season?  Perhaps they should be younger plants?  I will try a small sample of wool to see what happens, but don't expect much from it.  If anyone knows what I've done wrong, I'd be grateful for any tips.

2 comments:

  1. I'm so excited to read about your silk worms! Cultivating silk worms is something I've considered trying for a few years but I haven't plucked up the courage to give it a go yet... I'm really interested to see how you get on!

    I'm also fascinated to see how your dyeing experiment with horsetail works out... we're looking after a friend's allotment that's covered in the stuff so I'd love to find something useful to do with it all!

    Looking forward to reading more about your fibre adventures! Kate :)

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  2. Hi Kate,
    Thanks for your interest - I think these silkworms are one of the most fascinating projects I've ever had. I just can't stop watching them! I'll be keeping the blog updated with their progress.

    The horsetail has been a bit of a flop I'm afraid, but apparently they do have lots of medicinal uses, so that might be of interest.

    Chris

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