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Neon pink and yellow Mawata silk hankies | hand dyed | for spinning, felting, knitting

These are Mawata silk hankies, hand dyed in neon fuchsia, yellow, with a pop of dark teal and orange. Mawata silk hankies are cobweb thin silk squares stacked together that you peel apart to use for spinning, felting or even knitting (without spinning, read below). Who knew a little handkerchief of sorts could be so versatile?

  • 100% mulberry silk
  • 9.5g in weight
  • perfect for spinning, felting or even knitting
  • one-of-a-kind colourway

£0.00

Only 1 left in stock

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Description

Multicolour silk hankies are fabulous to craft with because, depending on how you use them, they will yield very different results. You can have a nuno felted piece with very delineated colour blocks or you can have a multicolour silk thread ready for spinning or knitting.

I’ve dyed this silk hankie in sections of neon fuchsia pink, in-your-face neon orange and yellow, and a deeply saturated teal green.

If you peel off a section for nuno felting, you’ll get pops of very saturated neon colours. If you prepare it for spinning, you’ll get a self-striping silk yarn!

There’s a total of 9.5g of silk hankies for you to play with in this stack. I’ve kept them small to make it more affordable also and easier to sample if you’ve not yet tried this little mulberry silk wonder.

What are Mawata silk hankies?

Silk hankies are degummed silk worm’s cocoons that have been stretched into a square shape. They consist of multiple, very thin layers, each harvested from a single cocoon. 

Mawata is their original Japanese name, and it means “to spread around.”

Silk takes up colour like nothing else, so the saturation will work great to bring your spinning or wet felting projects to the next level. Silk hankies are quite shiny so they definitely won’t go unnoticed.

How can I use a silk hankie?

  • Find a corner of the hankie and peel off a layer. Each layer is very thin and cobweb-like. Moisturise your hands before so the silk doesn’t get stuck to your fingers!
  • For spinning: make a hole in the centre with your fingers and draft the fibres apart until you reach the thickness you’d like to work with (watch the video below). Break off one end so you’ll have a roving of sorts, then carefully wrap it around your hand to form a nest. Spinning silk on a spindle or wheel can be a little more involved than sheep’s wool, because it is more slippery and the staple length is longer, but the results are stunning.
  • For knitting: you can simply prepare the hankies the same as mentioned above, and knit the “nest” as you would any yarn, no spinning required.
  • For wet felting (nuno felting): add one or more thin layers to your other fibres for a cobweb effect. The silk will gradually embed with the rest as you felt.

Please note that the last picture shows a stack of several colourways of silk hankies. This listing is only for one of them.

Additional information

Weight0.095 kg
Dimensions24 × 24 cm
Colour

fuchsia pink, teal green, Orange, Red Orange, Yellow, Yellow Green

Fibre Content

Silk

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

  • Keep wool top/roving or art batts in a dry room away from direct sunlight. Airtight boxes are recommended. Don’t place anything heavy on top of the fibre to avoid squishing it.
    Handle silk hankies with moisturised hands to avoid them sticking to your skin.
  • I recommend adding lavender sachets to the storage container for pest prevention.
  • Hand wash your finished product separately using wool-specific detergents, dry flat. Hand dyed fibres may bleed a little in the first couple of washes.

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PACKAGING AND SHIPPING

All my spinning and felting fibres are carefully wrapped in a paper bag and then shipped using a fully compostable mailing bag. 

UK shipping is £4 flat rate.

International shipping is £6 flat rate.

Find out more in the delivery and returns section. 

Your best crafting is my goal

Your best spinning and felting life is all I’m about. I want you to love and be excited by your fibre projects. I care whether your fab felting idea comes to life. Your spinning needs to be everything you ever dreamed of and I want to help you get there. My fibres, from art batts to silk hankies are all created with your best crafting life in mind.

Hi, I’m Eleanor and I want to be a part of your lovely hand crafting journey.

I’ll do all of this without compromising on quality or my eco values: I source my wool from ethical, local suppliers and I hand dye my fibre using the most planet-friendly techniques at my disposal.

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From my hands to yours: I’d love to see what you create with your fibre!

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