[Sca-cooks] silk from broken cacoons

[ranvaig at columbus.rr.com]

>>	Here in Calafia, there was a vegan couple that had gotten into silk
>>spinning.   What they were doing was using the hatched cocoons that the
>>moths had discarded.
>This was done in period, as well. I don't remember the details, but 
>I suspect since the threads would be shorter they would be weaker 
>and slightly different spinning techniques would be needed. I 
>believe these spent cacoons were also used as padding.

Normally silk is not spun, it is reeled and thrown, this makes the 
shiny silk we all want.  The silk from opened cocoons makes a fuzzy 
unshiny yarn, Silk Noil, which is sometimes misnamed Raw Silk.

In period, the open cocoons were probably used for padding, not thread.

Sometimes you will find Tussah silk, tussah is from wild silk moths, 
and the cocoons are gathered after they are opened.

Silkworm moths only live for five days after they hatch and are 
unable to eat... five days to mate and lay eggs.  I'm vegetarian, but 
I don't feel too bad stealing five days from a moth.

Ranvaig