Spinning A Yarn

The silklegend goes like this - around 5000  years ago, Lei Zu, wife of the ancient Chinese Emperor Xuanyuan, sat in the palace gardens under a mulberry tree, and the cocoon of a silkworm fell into her bowl of hot tea. As she tried to retrieve it, she discovered this apparently never ending length of strong fine thread...and thus the silk industry began. Firstly the women of China were responsible for organising silk production, and it was a closely guarded secret. In the 6th century, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian found two monks prepared to smuggle silkworms out of China - and then this fabric began to be produced the world over.Silk can be woven into a strong, beautiful fabric, and takes dyes very well. It is considered extremely luxurious - and natural [unlike synthetic fibres which will never break down, and be in landfill forever] It's not considered ethical, however - the poor silkworms are boiled alive to produce these threads.

But did you know there is another sort of silk? It is called sea- silk, or byssus? If you buy and prepare mussels for eating, you need to 'de-beard' them - and remove those tenacious fibres from the shells.
That fibre is called byssus, and is what the mussel uses to attach itself to a rock or rope, to prevent it being washed away by the tides. Scientists have only recently discovered the amazing properties of these threads, which are formed by the bivalve's saliva.

One particular mussel- the pinna nobilis [aka pen shell or fan mussel] grows in the Mediterranean, up to 120cm long [that's bigger than our Rosie!] and produces amazing byssus, which can be woven into a beautiful cloth called 'sea-silk'. Unlike regular silk, these threads can be harvested by divers without harming the creature [although it takes 300-400 dives to gather 200grams of material. When properly washed, processed, 
spun and woven, it produces a wonderful golden fabric. It can also be dyed in lustrous colours.

Cloth made from sea silk has been around for millennia - legend** says that the cloth Moses laid on the altar in the Tabernacle was made of byssus [there are lots of references to byssus in the bible - sometimes the word is translated 'silk' and at other times 'linen'] Justinian [him again] gave gifts of cloaks made of byssus- and by the end of the 18th century, it was the height of fashion - Nelson gave Emma a pair of byssus gloves. Jules Verne dressed the narrator of his story "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" in "a greatcoat of byssus, lined with sealskin"
But the pinna nobilis is a protected species now - sadly the creatures are in crisis, affected by a fatal  parasite. There are few examples of byssus work in existence - and one woman, Ciara Vigo continues to spin and weave the cloth, in her Sardinian home on the little island os San'Antiocca. This is a lovely little video clip about her work. [Longer ones with subtitles here and here]

If you'd like to own something made of byssus sea silk, I am afraid you've just missed your chance- this rare 1920's knitted hat was sold at auction in New York on Wednesday. The winning bid was $12,000!

What a beautiful fabric, and such a skilled craft. 
*** Bob suggested I titled this post "When Moses Pulled A Mussel"