Burning Soy Silk

OK, I am wondering if there are any fibers out there that anyone has had problems with concerning heat issues? By that, I mean fibers that melt or burn quickly if introduced to heat or flames.


I only ask this because just recently I was heating all my spun yarn and loose fibers in the microwave to kill any moths or bugs. Just to be on the safe side and since I don't know a whole lot about the fiber, I thought I would try a skein of soysilk. Well, less than a minute into the two minute cycle, I could smell something funky. No smoke coming from the microwave so I went to check out the candle. No candle mishap, so I went back to the microwave. I peeked in and it looked as if the skein had shrunk!?! Well, I turned off the microwave and the soysilk skein was so hot that I could not touch it with my bare hands. Normally, I can just grab fibers from the microwave and set them on the counter to cool a bit, but not the soysilk. I used a towel and then picked at the strands with my fingers to check the yarn. Low and behold, the strand of yarn that had cooled was as stiff as a board. I picked through it some more and the interior was black melted mess! OH and it stunk to high heaven! All of this damage was done in less than a minute and a half.


This got me to thinking about the safety of all the new 'eco-friendly' fibers out there. Come to find out that ingeo, a fiber made from corn, melts at temperatures over 140 Fahrenheit. I know that corn plastic is becoming all the rage now with various plastic items being made out of it from pens to screw-drivers, but to what extent is it's safety? I don't know about you, but my idea of cute knit top is one that does not melt into your skin.

Does anyone else out there know of any more safety issues with spinning fibers?

Lindy's Alpaca Roving.....

And here they are. I told Lindy way back in January I would send her pics of her lovely alpaca roving I spun. Well, here they are and sorry it took me so long to send them to you Lindy! If anyone likes how this yarn turned out and would like to try some of Lindy's roving please contact her through her farm website at Seldom Scene Farm. I know I am definitely going to have to get a bit (lot) more!!!

Etsy Updates

I have listed tons of new fun stuff in my Etsy store Lunabudknits/Weed of Dreams. From Roving to yarn you can see a few examples below.....