Milk and soy new fibers on knitters’ plates

Silk from milk? Yeah, that’s right. It involves the milk of transgenic goats and … spiders.

A spider’s silk-producing glands and a goat’s milk-producing glands are anatomically similar. Every spider cell contains silk-producing genes, so if you grind up some spiders, extract the genes and put them into a goat egg, the resulting baby goat will have a spider gene in each of its cells. The goat will produce what is called “silk-milk” – which looks and tastes like goat’s milk, but when tinkered around with in a laboratory will yield a silk concentrate pretty much like what a spider spins.

The fiber can be made into bulletproof materials, used as biodegradable sutures and is being eyed as a potential material for artificial tendons and ligaments.

Silk Latte, yarn made from silk-milk, is marketed by South West Trading Co. in Tempe, Ariz. It sells for $20 a skein.

A brave new world of fibers made from soy, corn and bamboo also is marketed by South West Trading Co.

The concept of making fibers from soy has been around since the early 1940s, when Henry Ford made a – perhaps his only – fashion statement. He wore a suit and tie made of soy silk, said Jonelle Raffino of South West Trading Co. She credits Ford with the concept for making fiber from soy, but the idea was shelved during World War II when the U.S. government decided instead to use petrochemicals to develop rayon and nylon fibers.

Soy silk is made from waste produced in tofu manufacture. After it is liquefied, soy protein is extruded into fibers, which are processed and spun like any other fiber. China has taken the lead in developing and manufacturing the fiber.

South West Trading introduced soy silk to U.S. markets in May, according to their Web site, and is the sole North American distributor for soy silk yarns, fiber and apparel.

Soy silk yarn looks a little like a narrow shoelace and is tubelike in construction. A 200-yard skein sells for $13. When I knit with a skein of soy silk provided by the Arizona company, I found it easy to work with. It feels like cotton, but slightly rougher, and has a wonderful draping quality.

The April issue of Crochet Fantasy magazine will carry a story about soy silk and its development.

Diapers and carpets made with a fiber that is completely biodegradable and after its demise leaves no environmental contamination? That’s the claim Ingeo Fibers makes for textiles made of corn. Ingeo, from a Greek word meaning “ingredients from the earth” and a trademark of Cargill Dow chemical company in Minnesota, was introduced in March 2003.

The production of Ingeo fiber is based on the fermentation of simple plant sugars to create a polymer that can be spun into a fiber, which in turn can be woven into fabric or spun into yarns for knitters and crocheters. South West Trading Co. sells Ingeo fiber for spinners. The company also sells yarn made from bamboo, which retails for $14.

Soy, corn, milk and bamboo fibers can be blended with wool and cotton and those fibers are currently on the market, too.

Tencel, made from pulpwood, is widely used as an apparel fabric in everything from raincoats to dresses. It has a silky feel and is wrinkle-resistant. Knitted or woven fabrics that can be made from Tencel include crepe, twill, chambray and poplin. Classic Elite cotton yarns blended with Tencel are available at yarn shops.

One great advantage of these fibers is that they are renewable resources and their manufacturing processes cause little or no environmental pollution.

Visit www.soysilk.com or call (480) 894-1818 for more information about soy, corn, milk and bamboo fibers. For more information about Tencel, visit www.rockinternational.com.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes comments, suggestions and ideas. Call her at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.