Yearn Worthy Yarn: Banana Silk Yarn

by Kelly Rand October 8, 2009, 9:30 am 7 Comments

While banana fabric might be hard to find, banana yarn is not. In fact we’ve talked about All Eco Banana Silk, a yarn whose fibers are hand crushed to get the material to spin.

Banana silk yarn starts as bark from the banana tree. The bark is then soaked until the cellulose fibers are all that remains. It is then extruded into pulp and then spun into yarn. And Shangri-la Craft‘s banana yarn is also hand dyed by a women’s group in Nepal.

Modern manufacturing produces a rayon like fiber from the banana fibers. Other Banana silk yarns are spun from recycled remnants from the clothing industry, such as those skeins from the Wool Peddler.

Banana silk yarn is very similar to recycled silk sari in that it is a bit fuzzy, but it is a soft and shiny yarn perfect for bulky yarn projects.

Written by Kelly Rand

Kelly covers visual arts in and around Washington, DC for DCist and is editor of Crafting a Green World. Kelly has also been published by Bust Magazine and you can find her byline at Indie Fixx and Etsy’s Storque and has taught in Etsy’s virtual lab on the topic of green crafting.

Kelly helps organize Crafty Bastards: Arts and Crafts Fair, one of the largest indie craft fairs on the east coast and has served on the Craft Bastard’s jury since 2007. Kelly is also co-founder of Hello Craft a nonprofit trade association dedicated to the advancement of independent crafters and the handmade movement. Kelly resides in Washington, D.C. and believes that handmade will save the world.