Plants

"... the important factor affecting the growth of global silk trade during 1990s was the imposition of quotas by European Union and the United States on imports of"

"From Filament to Fabric Silk seems to have played an important role in the development of loom and weaving technology. Traces of primitive looms and woven fabrics are found in excavations in Egypt, China, India and Peru (2500 to 400 BC)...The silk weavers of China innovated the use of heddle and draw loom, a revolutionary development over the primitive tribal loom. India invented a foot tradle for silk weaving, a technical innovation over the ancient loom."

"Francis I did all he could to encourage and support sericulture and is the first French King to wear pure silk stockings. After Francis l, Both Henry II and Henry III patronized the silk weaving industry but it was Henry IV who introduced silkworm rearing into France."

"The saga of silk success and shortcomings during the twentieth century is just astonishing. For the first 40 years until the nylon hit the market silk trade reached an all-time high demand mainly for the women's stockings."

"Silk processing in EU is concentrated in Milan and Como in Italy, Lyon in France and Zurich in Switzerland; same high quality silk weaving, jacquard, and printing are undertaken in the United Kingdom. Italy and France specialize in designer fabrics and scarves from famous fashion houses."

"The history of silk development spans through centuries and can be traced around the world's very ancient trade route called 'Silk Road'. A UNESCO inspired team trekked this obscure yet historical caravan tract called ‘Silk Road’, which began in China, passed through Tashkent, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul and reached European shores. Since the beginning of the Christian era (by 126 BC) silk has been the most coolourful of world caravans. Fabulous silks from China and India were carried to Europe through this 6400 km long road."

"It seems sericulture entered Europe during 140-86 BC. India also has long 3000-year history of silk development and at present ranks second to China in multi-varieties of silk production."

"China zealously guarded the secret of silk for about 3,000 years and plied a prosperous silk trade with the rest of the world. The merchant navies and the Chaldees carried fabulous silks from China to the courts of Babylon and Nineveh."

"China's earliest contact with the rest of the world was via the Silk Road, along which Chinese silks were transported through the Middle East and into Europe. In return, traders brought foreign goods, such as wool, glass beads, silver, and gold into China."

"Summer robes were made from light, cool silk. Those for winter wear were quilted — two layers of silk were stitched together, with a thick layer of warm w:Padding|padding in between. Quilting is still a popular technique in modern [[China for creating cozy dresses and jackets."

"The tradition of painting on silk emerged in the 3rd century BC., with painters producing banners and scrolls....Between the 4th and the 10th centuries silk painted concentrated on human figures. They depicted their clothes and movements with graceful brush strokes."

"In India the silk culture dates to antiquity. According to historians, mulberry culture spread to India by about 140 BC from China through Khotan."

"It [qin] has seven silk or metal strings and a long soundbox, with marks showing the positions of thirteen particular pitches. The qin was a favorite instrument of scholar-poets because its plucked strings create delicate, magical notes."

"Though silk production is less than 0.2 per cent of the world textile output, its production base is spread over 60 countries in the world with Asian nations bagging lion's share of over 90 per cent of mulberry production and almost 100-percent of non-mulberry silk....India is the world’s second largest producer with unique output of four varieties of silk – mulberry, tasar, eri, and moga."

"China has been famous for its silk for thousands of years. The main trade route linking China to the West was even known as the Silk Road. The ancient Romans prized Chinese silk and imported both thread and cloth. The Chinese kept their methods of silk production a closely held secret, and so Westerners were unable to make their own. Knowledge of silk making gradually spread west after two Persian monks smuggled some silk worm eggs out of China in the 6th century C.E. However, China remained the world’s key producer."

"Silk. production. The ancient Chinese method of silk making, or sericulture, involved hatching many silk moth eggs at the same time. The caterpillars were then kept on bamboo trays and fed hand-picked mulberry leaves. Some cocoons were allowed to develop into adult moths so that they could produce more eggs. The rest were dropped into boiling water, which made each cocoon unwind to produce a single fiber that could be over half mile (nearly a kilometer long)."

"Silk tapestry, or kesi appeared in China during the Tang dynasty around the 7th century C.E. In silk tapestry, both the background fabric and the foreground threads are made of silk. w:Tapestry|Tapestry [[artists favored big, bold designs without repeats."

"Silkworm Rearing, Cocoon Harvesting The silk caterpillar, belong to the Order of Lepidoptera winged insects, genus Bombyx. The species Bombyx mori, which can be cultivated indoors, produces over 90 per cent of the world output of raw silk used commercially. There are other types of wild silkworms under the genus Saturnidae."

"This is one element [kasuti-embroidery fusion] I always missed in a Mysore silk saree. So, I had to go for Kancheepuram, Peddapuram [saris] or Banaras when I needed to wear a very heavy-looking sari. Now, I have bought one and even gifted another to my sister-in-law as part of her wedding trousseau."

"Even though mulberry culture may have come to India overland from China, the references in old scriptures definitely point out that India cultivated some kind of wild silks independently of China from the time immemorial. The ancient religious scripture, Rigveda, mentioned ‘urna’, generally translated as some sort of silk."

"Raw silk: The silk thread produced by the reeling together of the baves of several cocoons. Raw silk has no twist. Poil: A silk yarn formed by twisting raw silk. The twist may be very slight or exceed 3,000 per meter. Tram: A silk yarn formed by doubling two or more raw silk threads and then twisting them slightly, generally 80 to 150 TPM. Crepe: Silk yarn made by several raw silk threads and twisting them to very high levels in the range of 2000 to 4000 TPM."

"The weight of the silk filament is decided by the weight of the cocoon shell and silk percentage of cocoon shell. In the reeling factory, raw silk percentage of cocoons and reeling discount of dried cocoons are used. The weight of the cocoon shell and the uniformity of cocoon are considered important commercial factors in raw silk reeling that are closely related to the raw silk yield to be obtained."

"Plain silk fabric can be tie-dyed or printed. Artisans use simple printing blocks to create colourful, repeated designs. For more luxurious reults, silks can be hand-painted or embroidered."

"I have been much amused at ye singular φενόμενα [phenomena] resulting from bringing of a needle into contact with a piece of amber or resin fricated on silke clothe. Ye flame putteth me in mind of sheet lightning on a small—how very small—scale."

"I looked at the inchworm dangling from the silk in my hand and said: "Think how nature makes things compared to how we humans make things." We talked about how animals don't just preserve the next generation; they typically preserve the environment for the ten-thousandth generation. While human industrial processes can produce Kevlar, it takes a temperature of thousands of degrees to do it, and the fiber is pulled through sulfuric acid. In contrast, a spider makes its silk - which per gram is several times stronger than steel - at room temperature in water."

"...touched the silk thread which the caterpillar makes benignly from the protein fibroin...think of its metamorphosis in its cocoon, a churning of natural juices, enzymes – and out comes a butterfly. Where are the toxics in that?"

"The lace man might then sell or put out the purl to the silver-thread-spinner, who, by intertwining purl and silk, made an embroiderer's thread called 'sleysy'. The lace man's shop had equipment consisting of wheels and spindles much like those at a rope-walk."

"Golden silk with deep red tie Folded in golden silk with deep red tie of the same tucked inside a bedside drawer this is for what she came... holding to her heart these now opened letters with tear stains she has no shame the i love yous wrapped in golden silk with deep red tie of the same."

"So now our dear old Santa, he's a picture of health. Now that he's so much thinner, he moves with greater stealth. Please don't leave him cookies, forget about the milk. Perhaps some sexy boxers, Mrs. Claus prefers them silk."

"Silk sateen: The sateen is usually woven with degummed silk yarn but sometimes there are also fabrics woven with raw silk, which are degummed after weaving. The former is called glossed silk sateen and the latter is silk sateen."

"We are all Adam's children, but silk makes the difference."

"The eighteenth century was "The Age of Silk”. It was the fabric of power and class command. Gainsborough painted not people so much as displays of silken extravagance."

"An individual spider can produce multiple varieties of silk because it has numerous silk glands inside its body. Some silk glands make one type of silk, another set of silk glands makes a second type of silk, and so forth. One of the unforgettable moments in my life was the first time I dissected a spider and saw its stunningly beautiful, translucent silk glands."

"What's the difference between spider silk and silkworm silk, the kind of silk in a typical silk scarf or blouse. Silk used in textiles is spun from the mouths of caterpillars to form cocoons that protect them while they transform into moths. A silkworm has only one pair of silk glands and can make one type of w:Fiber}fiber."

"Spiders, in contrast, have many silk glands, and the silk emerges from spinnerets located towards the rear of their bodies. Spiders are also able to spin silk from when they are very young and continue to do so throughout their lives."

"For me, each day begins and ends with wanting to learn a little more about the secrets of spider silk. Spiders have been around for over 300 million years and are found in nearly every terrestrial environment. There are more than 40,000 species living today and each spins at least one type of silk. However, most spiders spin more than one type of silk. For example, the orb-web weaving spiders that are commonly seen in gardens during the day or near porch lights at night, typically make seven kinds of silk. Each silk is chemically and functionally distinctive."

"“Do not wear silk, for one who wears it in the world will not wear it in the Hereafter” (5150)."

"Narrated Anas: A Jubba (i.e. cloak) made of thick silken cloth was presented to the Prophet. The Prophet used to forbid people to wear silk. So, the people were pleased to see it. The Prophet said, "By Him in Whose Hands Muhammad's soul is, the handkerchiefs of Sad bin Mu'adh in Paradise are better than this." Anas added, "The present was sent to the Prophet by Ukaidir (a Christian) from Dauma.""

"Narrated Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari: that he heard the Prophet saying, "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, 'Return to us tomorrow.' Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection.""

"Researchers are drawing inspiration from spider silks to produce novel, protein-based, eco-friendly materials for use in medical, cosmetic, electronic, textile, industrial, and other applications. The potential is enormous, especially considering the mind-boggling diversity of spiders and their silks."

"A Silk Rose I run my hands down your silk shoulders till our hands are in each others. As our bodies lightly touch, these lips can only kiss. I whisper softly my only words, I love you always"

"Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instills in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, "Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head." Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service."

"Narrated Hudhaifa: The Prophet said, "Do not drink in gold or silver utensils, and do not wear clothes of silk or Dibaj, for these things are for them (unbelievers) in this world and for you in the Hereafter.""

"The most widely raised type of silkworm, the larva of Bombyx mori, no longer exists anywhere in a natural state. The legs of the larve have degenerated, and the adults do not fly."

"They don't farm silk in America. They wear clothes, don't they? Or do they go around naked? If they wear clothes, they need silk. And they can buy it from me. “Okay, whatever you want. Just hurry.”"

"My family might never have become silk farmers if it hadn't been for the Emperor Justinian, who, according to Procopius, persuaded two missionaries to risk it. In 550 AD, the missionaries snuck silkworm eggs out of China in the swallowed condom of the time: a hollow staff. They also brought the seeds of the mulberry tree. As a result, Byzantium became a center of sericulture. Mulberry trees flourished on Turkish hill sides. Silkworms are the leaves, Fourteen hundred years later, the descendants of those stolen eggs filled my grandmother’s silkworm box in Guilin."

"Narrated 'Abdullah bin Umar: Umar bought a silk cloak from the market, took it to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Take it and adorn yourself with it during the 'Id and when the delegations visit you." Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) replied, "This dress is for those who have no share (in the Hereafter)." After a long period Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) sent to Umar a cloak of silk brocade. Umar came to Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) with the cloak and said, "O Allah's Apostle! You said that this dress was for those who had no share (in the Hereafter); yet you have sent me this cloak." Allah's Apostle said to him, "Sell it and fulfill your needs by it.""

"Orthodox monks smuggled silk out of China in the sixth century. They brought it to Asia Minor. From there it spread to Europe, and finally traveled across the sea to North America. Benjamin Franklin fostered the silk industry in Pennsylvania before the American Revolution. Mulberry trees were planted all over the United States."

"It's funny how worms can turn leaves into silk. But funnier far is the cow: She changes a field of green grass into milk And not a professor knows how."

"The Spirit of the Gift It is not the weight of jewel or plate, Or the fondle of silk or fur; 'Tis the spirit in which the gift is rich, As the gifts of the Wise Ones were, And we are not told whose gift was gold, Or whose was the gift of myrrh."