Untangled webs they weave
Monday September 28th 2009, 9:00 pm
Filed under: Spinning,Wildlife

Thanks to Kathleen, I found a reason to want to drop everything and go visit my sister in NYC right now.  Spinning straw into gold is one fantasy, but they actually did this?  Wow.  What does spider fabric feel like, I want to know! Gold, like glass, as an incomprehensible fluid.  Gorgeous.

I don’t imagine that kind of yarn will be on the market anytime quite too soon.


18 Comments so far
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Hm, silk from spiders/silk from worm cocoons–sounds very similar and like a tremendous amount of hand labor to me. As expensive as if it were gold, I betcha

Comment by sherry in idaho 09.28.09 @ 10:14 pm

It cost them more than a half million dollars to make that 11′ cloth.

Comment by AlisonH 09.28.09 @ 10:31 pm

Thank you for sharing this story! Very interesting!

I will not quit my job to go work with the spiders though. *shivers* lol

Comment by Suzanne in Mtl 09.29.09 @ 5:36 am

Nasty spiders, they are!!! Interesting, however.

Comment by Joansie 09.29.09 @ 5:43 am

Yuck! That is not for me though it does look beautiful!

Comment by Joansie 09.29.09 @ 5:53 am

I couldn’t have been that close to any spider. However, it was an very interesting story, thanks for sharing.

Comment by TripletMom 09.29.09 @ 6:00 am

Interesting, but not anything I’d sign up to do!

Comment by Channon 09.29.09 @ 6:02 am

I thought squirrels running a muck was a problem. Spiders the size of your hand that eat small animals — now THERE is a critter you don’t want in your yard.

Comment by Barbara-Kay 09.29.09 @ 6:12 am

EEEEEEEEWWWWW!!! I’m all ITCHY now!

Comment by Jody M 09.29.09 @ 6:24 am

I saw that article in the NYTimes. Isn’t the weaving gorgeous? Astonishing really.

Comment by Michelle 09.29.09 @ 6:34 am

The fact that “these females are notoriously cannibalistic and if left to their own devices will quickly reduce the entire silk assembly line to arachnid carnage” might also deter investors.

Comment by LynnM 09.29.09 @ 7:24 am

I don’t have anything made of silk, let alone spider fiber. Out of my league.

Fun:

A man is recovering from surgery when the surgical nurse appears and asks him how he is feeling. 

“I’m O. K. but I didn’t like the four letter-words the doctor used in surgery,” he answered. 

‘What did he say,’ asked the nurse. 

‘Oops!’

Comment by Don Meyer 09.29.09 @ 10:03 am

Yes! I saw that article the other day. There is actually a good chance I might be able to go see this…hmmm…

Comment by karin maag-tanchak 09.29.09 @ 10:14 am

I have two large spiders outside my front porch that I am more than willing to donate to this project….

Comment by afton 09.29.09 @ 1:45 pm

I clicked on the link w 1 eye closed. If there was a spider picture, I didn’t want to see it…especially 1 that big!! The fabric was a beautiful gold, but I’m not sure, knowing where it came from, that I would…no, make that ‘could’ put it on.

Comment by Cathy 09.29.09 @ 2:32 pm

Not all spider web is sticky. I think they control it, based on whether it’s a structural strand, or an inbetween strand to catch bugs. Still, it’s hard not to imagine spider silk feeling cobwebby, although it IS beautiful.

Comment by LauraN 09.29.09 @ 6:41 pm

If you do go to NYC, let me know, and I’ll meet you in the city.

Comment by ruth 09.30.09 @ 6:57 am

That was an amazing story. I wish there’d been a photo of the 24 spiders in their little harness.

Comment by magpie 10.01.09 @ 8:11 am



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