amaizing bamboo cornucopia

[piranha]

a new vegan alternative to animal-based fibres:  a couple of companies, kollage yarns and south west trading company now offer yarn from corn.  SWTC also has a 100% bamboo yarn.  don't know how either of those measure up in green terms, though.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Bamboo's nice; it knits up with a drapey but slightly "crisp" finish. I've also worked with soy "silk," which is softer and just as drapey, and am currently knitting a long wrap in a wonderful rayon-flax blend from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/home) (the "Socks that Rock" people) that's just wonderful to touch. All share the same knitted-in-a-tube construction as the corn and bamboo yarn; they're a little splitty if you work with very pointy needles, but not too hard to control.

IANA vegan, but as much as I love knitting with wool, I have a hard time wearing it next to my skin (except as socks), and it's too warm for the climate here most of the year, so I've been playing with all the plant-fiber yarns I can lay hands on.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i have some soysilk for spinning, and yes, it's luxuriously soft. have you tried tencel/lyocell? it's made from cellulose (in a process that's apparently relatively green), and i've finally found a local source that resells the fibre. it's not as soft, but softer than hemp.

something else i'd like to try is ecospun/fortrel, which is made from recycled pop (PET) bottles -- not natural, but hey, at least 100% recycled -- but i haven't found it yet locally.