Today’s inspiration is hand spun recycled silk sari yarn. Oh, the yummy colors, textures and possibilities!

I bought these from Kiputa Trading at the Long Beach Quilt Festival. All of the yarns (except the chartreuse skein on the right) are made from recycled sari yarn. You can see on the left, strips of sari silk are sewn end to end to create a continuous length of fabric yarn. With varying amounts of spinning, you get thicker or thinner yarn out of the fabric. The more you spin the fabric, the thinner and softer it becomes. My photo really does not do it justice. Click here for an amazing close-up from Kiputa Trading.

The chartreuse yarn on the right is not sari silk at all, but is made from banana tree fibers. It is shiny and soft and just as irresistible as the sari yarn.

I’m going to have to think awhile to decide what to do with these yarns. I could knit a pencil scarf. Silk wouldn’t be hot and uncomfortable to knit with in the middle of summer like wool would be. I’d probably finish just in time to wear it this fall.

Another option would be to make kumihimo-style cords for necklaces and embellishing art quilts. A fringe would make a great embellishment too.

Speaking of art quilts, I could couch the spun yarn onto a quilt top or edge. Perhaps I could even piece together the unspun sari yarn into a fantastic background or ruche it to make a gathered trim or a flower for embellishing. I’m especially fond of appliqué. If I sew the unspun fabric yarn into a pieced square I might be able to cut out shapes and appliqué them down.

Oh, the possibilities! Maybe I should try them all. Any suggestions? What would you do with hand spun recycled silk sari yarn?