Episode 206 | Cheryl Kolander

This episode’s guests are first, Cheryl Kolander, pioneer of Peace Silk and avid natural dyer. Cheryl chats with us about raising silk – Sericulture. Then we chat with Sara Lamb about spinning silk and its various preparations.

Interview Notes:

• • Diversity in the Knitting Community. Check out the story highlights from @su.krita, @astitchtowear (who you should be following anyway), @hi.ravelry, @thecolormustard, and @ocean_bythesea.
  • Cheryl’s Site – Aurora Silk
  • How Silk is Made
  • Life-cycle of a Silk Caterpillar – Bombyx Mori and a moth emerging from the cocoon
  • Mulberry Tree, the coolest thing about it is that it has poly-morphic leaves, meaning that you can have leaves of different shapes on the same branch.
  • Natural colors in wild silk
  • The natural black light fluorescing comparison of silk cocoons
  • Machine Reeling Silk
  • Hand Reeling Silk
  • Byproducts of the Silk Industry
  • Ornamental Weeping Mulberry (it doesn’t work to feed the worms)
  • Benefits of wearing silk

• Expert Notes:

• • Sara Lamb’s website, Ravelry, and Facebook
  • Sara’s Books & DVDs
  • Spinning from the fold
  • How silk hankies are made
  • How to use silk hankies, bells, or caps

You can follow me in all my making at Miriam Felton Knit Designs on Facebook, and on Twitter or Instagram at mimknits. The address for the Patreon if you want to get some cool rewards and bonus content is patreon.com/miriamfelton. I’m live-streaming from my studio at Twitch.tv/MimIsMaking You can follow the podcast on social media via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. If you’re enjoying this podcast please consider sharing it with a friend, posting about it on social media, or leaving a rating or review in iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Facebook, or wherever. You can also join the Friends of YarnStories Ravelry group if that’s more your thing. And thank you so much for listening! This podcast was produced in Salt Lake City UT, with production help from Sid Fallon. Music is by the ever illusive Breakmaster Cylinder.

Thanks for listening! I’ll be back in 2 weeks talking with the lovely Jeanette Sloan about Diversity in Knitting.