r/weaving • u/Over_Antelope_4697 • Jul 04 '26
Work in Progress Finally processed a micro-batch of wild Calotropis (Milkweed) Silk. The luster is absolutely unreal hand-foraged and cleaned in Yemen.
After spending weeks in the mountains of Yemen, I finally managed to hand-process this tiny micro-batch of wild Calotropis silk.
Most commercial milkweed fibers I’ve seen are clumped and full of seed residue, so I challenged myself to see how clean I could get them by hand. It’s incredibly airy, light, and the silver sheen is unlike anything I’ve worked with before.
Sharing this here because I know you guys appreciate the effort that goes into rare fibers. Any advice on the best way to blend this with wool? I’m still experimenting with the best ratios.
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Jul 04 '26
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 04 '26
Thank you so much for the kind words! No worries at all about not having advice, your encouragement means a lot. It really is a fascinating fiber to look at and touch. I’ll definitely be sharing updates and pictures of the spun results as soon as the spinners test it out, so stay tuned!
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u/TRexNamedSue Jul 04 '26
How long is the staple length? You might try looking up how to spin angora rabbit. It looks similar, although I’ve never spun millkweed silk!! Beautiful! Please post again with whatever you do with it!!
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 04 '26
That is a spot-on comparison! The fibers are incredibly fine and have that ultra-soft, slippery texture very similar to angora, so treating it with the same spinning techniques is a brilliant idea. The staple length varies, but in this wild batch, it’s mostly around 1 to 2 inches. I've actually just sent out a few small testing batches to some wonderful spinners who reached out in the DMs to test exactly how it handles on the wheel. I’m running quite low on this clean batch now, but I’ll definitely share their blended results as soon as they finish!
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u/CollinZero Jul 04 '26
I’m really curious too because we’ve got an acre or two I can harvest! Tbh, a bit too much! It spreads a lot by root so I won’t feel bad harvesting it.
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 04 '26
An acre or two sounds like a dream harvest! You should definitely give it a try. Harvesting it wild is so rewarding, and since it grows back so easily, it’s completely sustainable. If you try hand-processing it, just be patient with the seeds...doing it one by one keeps the fiber perfectly fluffy!
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u/CollinZero Jul 04 '26
How exciting! I know from experience that if you get the pods as they crack just wide, you can peel off the fluff from the seeds. The seeds will stay on the pods. There’s usually a divided section on both sides of the pod. The trick is to get it before it fluffs out. Then, as it dries it can be just as fluffy!
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 05 '26
Oh, that’s an amazing trick! I’ll definitely have to try that with the next batch. Dealing with the seeds after they fully fluff out is easily the most tedious part, so catching them right as the pod cracks sounds like a total game-changer. Thanks for the awesome tip ♡
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u/Kinniska-Peculier Jul 04 '26
I’m very curious. I don’t know myself, but if it were me, I’d search the archives of the magazine Wild Fibers, and I’d look at the classes archives of Penland school of craft to see if someone’s taught a class using that fiber before: I have take classes there and the variety of unusual and experimental and even historical methods that gets worked with there is amazing. If they have, I bet you could email that instructor and ask if they have tips.
I would love to see any follow up to this!
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 04 '26
Wow, thank you so much for these incredible leads! I’ll definitely dive into the Wild Fibers archives and look up Penland—that sounds like a goldmine for experimental processing. It’s so encouraging to see this community's passion for preserving these historical, wild fibers. Interestingly, a fiber expert who did their thesis on this actually reached out to me and mentioned that the wild Yemeni variety tends to have a longer staple length compared to the ones commonly found in the US, which was amazing to learn! I’ve been chatting with a few fiber artists in the DMs who are keen to experiment with this batch, and hearing all your ideas makes me so glad I spent weeks cleaning it. Will absolutely keep you all posted on the journey!
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u/Kinniska-Peculier Jul 05 '26
::flails happily::
I’m so glad it was helpful! I also recommend the Instagram feed of Penland Craft just for the fun factor — I have taken classes there. They are indeed intensive — but no regrets. There’s a lot of wonderful collaborations that happen there.
Please keep us posted!
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u/Longjumping-Ad-9541 Jul 04 '26
🤯 WOW I was planning on planting some milkweed for pollinators, but now I'm also wanting to plant it for furthering my fibercraft addiction
oh no I mean hobby.
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 05 '26
Haha, welcome to the fiber craft addiction! It truly is a double win...great for the pollinators outdoors, and absolute magic for textile experiments indoors. If you ever get to harvest your own, you’re going to fall in love with the texture
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u/existentialfeckery Jul 04 '26
I've been collecting it in southern Ontario for a few years to spin too. Finally have a patch growing in my garden 😁
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u/amycsj Jul 04 '26
I understand the fibers are too smooth to spin up well unless you mix them with something else. I was wondering though about just packing it in the shed without spinning it first in some artsy weave.
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 04 '26
I love this idea! you’re totally right..because it’s so smooth, using it as a raw, cloud-like inlay or unspun textured weft in an artsy weave would look stunning, especially with that silver sheen catching the light. It actually has a historical background as a premium thermal insulation filler, so using it for volume/texture is perfect.
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u/U4op1enn3 Jul 04 '26
No experience or articles, but with fine, but long fibers like that I would try with something else that is a little grip here, but also longer fibers, if cotton is too sloppy, maybe alpaca?
Feels like wool would be kind of a waste for such a high sheen item
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 04 '26
Wow, pairing it with alpaca is an incredibly brilliant idea! You are totally right about the sheen...pure wild milkweed silk has this brilliant silver luster that could easily get muted by coarse wool. Alpaca would definitely preserve that luxury feel while providing the extra length and grip needed to spin it beautifully. If you’re ever tempted to test that alpaca blend yourself, let me know in the DMs, I'd love to set aside a sample for you!
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u/icfantnat Jul 05 '26
Oooo I have a lot of milkweed fluff and I have an llama who's brown and grey - her grey is silvery, and now I want to try spinning them together. I have tried it with sheep wool and the sheen wasn't super noticeable
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u/forest_fibers Jul 06 '26
Are you spinning it?
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u/Over_Antelope_4697 Jul 06 '26
No, I'm not spinning it myself. I specialize entirely in the wild harvesting and meticulous hand-cleaning process to ensure the hollow fiber walls don't collapse. Since it's so smooth and has no natural crimp, spinning it 100% pure is nearly impossible.
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u/Horror_Box_3362 Jul 06 '26
I had no idea something like that existed. Thank you for sharing! I hope to see more!
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u/Kay_of_all_trades Jul 06 '26
Had to check twice what sub I'm reading to be sure you're not holding a cluster of asbestos 😂
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u/EmberinEmpty Jul 09 '26
A kin of mine working in landscaping brought me like a whole lunch bag worth of wild milkweed they harvested by hand while on the land. 😭 I'm still trying to learn in tiny batches how to blend it to be easy to spin and also keep some of the lusture.
My thoughts so far have been mainly to gently incorporate it into pre carded/combed fine weight wool or alpaca hair and try to keep/arrange arrange the fibers in order so it's straight (woolen style spinning I believe).
I also plan to save the seeds and sow them in the agricultural meadow I have access to thru again said kin.
It's so utterly gorgeous I don't wanna fuck it up so I'm looking forward to also seeing what you all suggest
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u/gottahavethatbass Jul 04 '26
I have a magazine with an article about using milkweed bast fiber for spinning I’ve been wanting to try. I didn’t know you could spin the seed fluff. I’m curious to see how that goes!