One of my favourite shops pictured above: Healey & James*
Who could believe that the vibrant red and orange cloths so smooth and soft, began life as animal and plant fibres? That a goat once wore the delicate closely-woven fabric: cashmere wool and that caterpillar spit would make the flimsiest and most prized cloth of all: silk, that the fluff around a seed pod could be made into hardwearing cloth: cotton, or that strands of the flax plant stem could be turned into linen? And the dyes, all products of the animal and plant kingdoms or even synthetic chemicals. It’s like magic.
Haiku 1 Cashmere
Fabric soft against my face
Vibrant cashmere yarn
Pashmina round my shoulders.
Haiku 2: Silk
Diaphanous patterned silk
Slips delicately
Threads of Eastern moth cocoons
Photos and words copyright to Englepip©
*Healey & James Textile Merchant, Hartley Park Farm Business Centre, Selborne Rd, Alton GU34 3HS
Englepip's World 