#silk processing

[bonefall]

Does this mean we can have silk “scarf” or “shawls” in BB

bc that would make every scene so much better imagine Mistystar making a speech with silk accessories

I've been on-and-off looking at the possibility of the Clans making accessories out of silk for a few months now, but because of a lack of good historical examples to draw from, I've sadly had to rule it out for now.

Eastern silk production, which produces enough strong material to actually get used as a textile, is completely dependent on the fabulous, beautiful animal known as Bombyx Mori, the Domestic Silk Moth. What's amazing about this moth is that it's been domesticated for 5,000 years, and is so genetically distinct from its ancestors that they can't always produce offspring with their direct progenitor, Bombyx Mandarina!

In the west, we don't have any species (that I know of) which are capable of producing enough fiber. So far I've explored three kinds of animals, but hit snags with each one.

First one I started looking at was just some sort of alternative to bombyx mori, another silk-producing moth. While "wild silks" have been collected and used in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and even the Mediterranean and Middle East, it seems like central and northern Europe are like the one place on the planet where there's no appropriate wild silk moths.

At some point I encountered the Caddisfly and went down a small rabbithole for them. Caddis silk is VERY similar to that of a silkworm chemically, but also water resistant. Unfortunately, caddisflies cover their sticky cocoons in rocks and sticks, like bagworms. That would probably make the silk less useful.

The most promising was spider silk. Used as wound dressings since ancient times, briefly used to create paintings, plus several "proof of concepts" of modern humans applying silkworm techniques to create small amounts of textiles, several factors made me back off.

Spiders produce several kinds of silk, unlike insects which typically only make one per species. This means that you can't just apply "one technique" to turn all their silk from Bug Butt String to Useable Material-- you have to develop a technique for egg casing silk, dragline silk, capture silk, etc.

This means that I'd need to separately research every documented instance of spider silk weaving to understand what type of spider silk they were using, PLUS what species it came from, and if that species has any relatives in the modeled region, and if those relatives produce the right sort of silk, etc.

AND if these processes require too many advanced tools, all of that work would go out the window since Clan cats are working with sticks and rocks.

So, unless somehow unlimited money falls on me tomorrow and I get to hire a fleet of entomologists to conduct Silly Cat Experiments in tandem with, I can't find a path to silk textiles yet.

.....YET.

Because I can feel it in my bones that somehow, intelligent cats would be MILES ahead of human cultures in this technology. I think it would be just like humans and cheese. We didn't domesticate cows for their milk-- we domesticated them for MEAT, and THEN accidentally figured out how to make cheese by keeping milk in early "leather" (stomach) bags.

Likewise, cat cultures would be domesticating insects for food first. Silk would be a byproduct.

So someday I'd like to sit down and just explore what sorts of insects they would logically prioritize as food, which of those do well in captive conditions, and then work from there. Not only would it generally give me a good place to start with, but most importantly, it would feel more organic. As much as possible, I try to avoid working "backwards" culturally by starting with a tech and then figuring out how they got it.

Anyway! Mistystar can still have accessories

The primary textiles that Clan cats have is leather, linen, and yarn. Linen is the highest quality and most labor intensive material they have, worn by leaders, clerics, and other high-ranking cats as a sign of their status.

The shawl is actually canon lmao, a supporting character in Darkstar's Commandment is actually going to be wearing one. Xeir name is Smallstar, and they get to NOT die in BB because of the fact that Mapleshade's kittens are the ones who died to create Commandment 14. Runningstorm and Wolfheart also have very small cameos.

[premamelody]

derg

[artbyzephra]

From sketch, to...

... Final piece. Commission for MercuryF0x, Process video can be found here (it took a bit of energy to edit so please give it a look).

Bonus headshot detail - first time detailing something like this and really happy with how it ended up.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Researchers surpass silkworm silk by taking a holistic approach

Dr. Ben Allardyce and Ph.D. candidate Mr. Martin Zaki from Deakin's Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) have delivered a world first in next-generation materials research. Silkworm silk is a protein-based fiber with mechanical properties rivaling petroleum-derived synthetic fibers, yet spun using a fraction of the energy. Despite decades of research, aspects of natural silkworm spinning remain a mystery. Published in Advanced Materials, the IFM discovery takes researchers one step closer to solving this mystery by wet-spinning a new class of silk that produces fibers that outperform natural silk. This research, led by Dr. Allardyce and Mr. Zaki, with expert input from Sheffield University's Professor Chris Holland, involves sidestepping degumming—a commonplace industrial process—and experimenting with dissolving whole silk fibers.

Read more.

[snobgoblin]

DRESSED UP IN HIS HEARTSONG GIFTS... the rest are in his bag... and one of them is ringing in his ears...

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Meghan Markle Reinvents Herself With Black Girl Magic

MegaLiar here's a pro tip: research your scripted "confessional" fantasies BEFORE the lies actually drip from your lips:

It's called a HOT COMB not a FLAT IRON!

"No one treated me like a black woman until I came to the UK"

She was too lazy to style her own hair for BRF engagements, now she expects us to believe this:

"It kind of reminds me of when I was at Northwestern and I moved into Kappa our sorority there. I don't think they made plug-in flat irons at the time they couldn't, if they did I didn't know where they were because I had the little stove with the flat iron that would go in have a paper towel on the side probably half the people listening are going what is she talking about...you'd pull it out and have the little scorch marks and I remember most of the girls in the sorority who were not black saying 'what's that smell? Is hair burning?' And it was just what you would do to figure out how [tah] grapple with this texture of hair." 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥

Please follow the links to watch this clip and the full video of Leilani of Barbados who comically exposed the MegaLiar in her failed Episode 3 of Confessions.

Personal Note: Unlike the MegaLiar, my "natural" hair is course & kinky. I have NEVER in all my years so much as touched one of those hot & heavy professional stoves--- let alone considered purchasing a stove that is strictly used in professional salons. My own mother would never so much as "press/straighten" my natural hair from our kitchen stove. Even as a child, I was sent to the hair salon for my press & curl!! But the MegaLiar turned BLACK girl in a lily white sorority wants the world to think she was using a PROFESSIONAL hot stove in the KAPPA House to straighten her non-kinky naturally curly hair. Right. 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥

"What's that smell?"-MegaLiar on Confessions

Fire Hazard

This short video shows what the MegaLiar wants the world to believe about her lily white years at Northwestern. BTW: It would have been ILLEGAL for an American undergraduate college student to use an electric stove in her dorm room or sorority house. So how many rules did Ms. Markle break at Northwestern?

FYI MegaLiar: A flat iron is electric

"I was shaking my hair around!" MegaLiar's STRAIGHT college hair style after the Shakira Audition

Notice in this home video her hair remained straight BEFORE & AFTER she sweats through the Shakira audition. Most likely she used a "relaxer/perm" or some chemical technique to straighten her natural curls. Otherwise after the sweating, her hair would have gradually reverted back to its naturally curly state.

Home Video w/Childhood hair: Rachel Meghan Markle pretends to be queen with natural curls at a friend's birthday party

Home Video: Pre-teen hair

In this video, watch an adolescent with soft loose curls as the stylist blow drys and flat irons her natural hair.

THIS is my natural kinky hair texture:

This was MegaLiar's childhood soft naturally curly hair Texture

[maysoulrose]

Happy Valentines day! The valentines jester has blessed you with her presence 🩷❤️🩷❤️

I had SO much fun making this outfit, but was also sick during it so it was a struggle 😅

I'm currently editing a video showing my sewing process and some fun modeling at the end 🩷

Outfit: made by me!

also hey, I posted a yt vid of how I made this!

Here it is

- - - - #valentines#valentinesthemed #valentinesdaymakeup#valentinesday#hearts#heartthemed#love#valentinesoutfit#valentinesdayoutfit#valentinesdayphotoshoot#valentinesphotoshoot#jester#costume#cosplayer#cutejester#jestergirl#courtjester#valentinesinspo#crochetedheart#holiday#holidaytheme#candyhearts#candy#candygirl#makeup#clown#clownmakeup#jestermakeup

[ctrlhope]

I miss Spider Jimin too 😩😭 I think about him sometimes, especially when I see a spider 🕷

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 God, it makes me feel so mushy inside every time you (+ everyone else) mentions something like this. Like I never imagined that spider!jimin would receive as much love as he did-- he's always just been a little part of my brain that I've been cooking up over the years, imagining how everything would function and how he would act ect. And idk it makes me so happy to know you guys love him too 🥺

SPIDER MIN LOVES YOU TOO!! And he misses you. Terribly. And I have ideas for him-- so... I guess that means he has ideas for you? LMAO

[tibli]

minecraft should let you turn your broken glass back into sand to be reused. because you can literally just do that in real life

[aircraftstudio]

New hand embroidered birds are in the making! Stay tuned for more...;)

[teighveepao]

when i first saw the new vil card i didnt have my contacts in and i just woke up so i thought i was tripping bc i thought it was some office guy with black hair in a slick back and my friends were all calling him vil

[stellorc]

i was holding myself back from sharing this until it was Actually Finished, but it's been Weeks and the urge to prove that i wasn't just crying rewatching old barbie movies and doing commissions is too strong. please have this snippet of a piece that's actually not fanart! i'm trying my hand at the 'painting your problems' concept. As someone who has used art as an escape since childhood it's been pretty wild. Staring at my thoughts can be scary but drawing menacing looking ladies gives me courage.

[artbyzephra]

From sketch, to...

... Final piece. Commission for MercuryF0x, Process video can be found here (it took a bit of energy to edit so please give it a look).

Bonus headshot detail - first time detailing something like this and really happy with how it ended up.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Advances in processable natural biopolymers: Cellulose, chitosan, eggshell membrane and silk fibroin

A study in Science Bulletin explores the recent advancements in the development of processable natural biopolymers and their myriad applications. With the ever-expanding global population and rapid economic advancement, there is an escalating demand for materials, chemicals, and energy resources worldwide. A substantial proportion of these resources is currently sourced from fossil fuels. "Currently, approximately 8% of fossil fuels are used in polymer production, and this proportion is expected to surge to 20% by 2050. This mounting demand for polymers, coupled with escalating processing costs, poses a formidable long-term challenge in meeting global polymer requirements," says Dr. Haijun He, one of the researchers.

Read more.

[andrewvehansen]

Quilting Process: Behold My Beauty and Weep

I just finished a quilt and figured I might as well blog about the process I went through to create it. Please feel free to reach out with any questions! I belong to the Brooklyn Quilters Guild and ever since the COVID pandemic, we’ve been holding small outdoor quilt shows where we hang our quilts on the rod-iron fence that surrounds the block where we have our monthly meetings. Check out our…

[whimsicmimic]

Also thinking about tristamp worldbuilding and how studio orange have confirmed that (certain) worms DO produce silk, and im incredibly curious to know if its like a spider situation or a silkworm situation or a silk-as-adhesive situation or. Some other type of situation. Ill admit, i only really know about silk in terms of moths and spiders, but I know they’re far from the only bugs that produce silk out there