Silk Factory

Today we learned how people make silk.  Thailand is famous for silk.  Silk comes from the silk worms’ cocoons.  The silk factories have silk worm eggs, and then the eggs hatch.  Then there are tiny silk worms.  They feed them mulberry leaves.  They eat and they eat, and they make a cocoon.  Before the worms become moths, people have to boil the cocoons before they hatch.  Then they make strands of silk.  After they get the strings of silk, they dye it.  Sometimes they make multi-colors.  

Then they put the silk thread on a loom and make silk fabric.  A fast and focused weaver can make 9 meters of fabric in one day!  People can make all sorts of things out of silk from eyeglass cases to purses.  Also, they make placemats, clothes, and pillows.  I loved seeing how silk was made, but it was kind of sad that people had to destroy the silk worm’s life cycle just to get silk.  There are a lot of silk worms on this earth, so I don’t think they’ll become extinct.

In the evening I got to see my Yai-Yai’s eldest sister.  Her granddaughter (my cousin) is a famous singer in Thailand.  She plays a ukulele.  I met her brother for the first time.  He was very fun.  He showed us his alligator/fish, an alligator gar.  I was happy to see my Yai-Yai’s older sister and her whole family.  -Vanessa