In Search of Wild Silk


In Search of Wild Silk
Item Number: WB-9780764364976
$39.99
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In Search of Wild Silk
by Karen Selk

Many people are familiar with Bombyx silk, the white cultivated silk that comes from the moth Bombyx mori. It is not the only silk moth, however. A centuries-long tradition of raising wild silkworms exists in India, but the caterpillars produce silk in soft golds and browns. Author Karen Selk went in search of the worms, the villages who have grown up around their production, and the fabric that they produce. The book is the summation of 30 years of exploration and is filled with hundreds of color photos documenting this fascinating world.

Contents:

  • introduction to wild sericulture
  • how fiber becomes yarn and yarn becomes fabric
  • the Tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta
  • the Muga silkworm, Antheraea assamensis
  • the Eri silkworm, Samia ricini

Along the way, Karen presents the benefits, cultural, economic, and environmental, of maintaining traditional sericulture as a way of life. She also makes the case for embracing this sort of slow fashion as a vital element in preserving the planet and our fragile place on it.

Hardcover, 270 pages