Lotus Silk Yarn (10/1)

One of the world’s most exclusive fibers, lotus silk is produced from the fine threads found inside the stem of the padonma lotus (nelumbo nucifera). According to tradition, lotus silk was invented 100 years ago by Daw Sa U, a master weaver living in Shan State in Myanmar. She discovered how to painstakingly extract the bast fibers by snapping open the stems, twisting out and drying the threads, and spinning them into yarn which she wove into robes for local monks. This process is extremely delicate and slow, and it requires the threads from more than 30,000 lotuses to make enough yarn to weave a single yard of cloth.

Our Lotus Silk Yarn (10/1) is produced according to Daw Sa U’s traditional method. It is handspun on Inle Lake in Myanmar in the workshop of Ms. Kyin Mo Win. It is a single-ply yarn measuring about 1,100 yards/100 g., and appropriate for warp or weft.

Please note that real lotus silk is not as soft as mulberry silk, nor does it have a high luster. This is, in fact, a very rustic yarn that is celebrated in Myanmar not because of its softness but because of its spiritual connotations. In Theravada Buddhism, a lotus flower growing up and blossoming on top of muddy water symbolizes the pure mind attaining self-awareness in the midst of worldly illusion (samsara). Spinning and weaving robes from lotus silk is an act of merit-making, and garments made of lotus silk are especially appropriate for monks, nuns, and all those who aim not to harm sentient beings. On the bobbin you may feel that the raw yarn feels a bit like cardboard, however, when it is woven and broken in it becomes much softer and develops a hand similar to fine linen.

Product of Myanmar. Hand wash in cold water; lay flat to dry.