The Dao of Silk is an online-only store selling Asian craft supplies, with occasional trade and craft show presence. We specialize in decorative knotting (jie yi / Chinese knotting, maedup / Korean knotting, hanamusubi / Japanese knotting, mizuhiki, macramé, etc.) and decorative braiding (kumihimo, kute-uchi, dahoe, etc.). We are also very fond of beading and try to carry some of the more unusual findings, beads and tools that are available in Asia but rare in North America.
Owner, Carol Wang, has been crafting as long as anyone can remember, but discovered Chinese knotting in 1977 or thereabouts. In 1994, she started the Chinese Knotting Home Page and the Kumihimo Home Page (only 10 years ago, and the World Wide Web was still a very small place). These sites will continue to be a free resource with the goal of spreading these arts as far and wide as possible.
In Taiwan, home of the revival of Chinese knotting, jie yi stores were as common as bead stores or yarn stores as late as 1997. But, despite a growing popularity in the West, supplies are still difficult to find and inconvenient to gather from the varied sources from which they are available. This site aims to solve this problem for decorative knotting, decorative braiding and various other Asian arts.
By email, phone or post, we are here for you (although, if you are phoning, remember that we are in the Pacific Time Zone and we like to sleep in whenever the kids cooperate. 8) 8).
We try to respect and safeguard your privacy as if it were our own. Please read our privacy policy for complete details.
Catalog ordering, mail order or online, is a matter of trust and accurate information. Towards that end, we include as many product images and as much information as we can for each item. If you have any questions about any product, don't hesitate to ask. We also have an extensive sampling program with free shipping for samples.
Still, in the end, mistakes will happen. If the mistake is ours, return/re-delivery shipping is free and we will replace the items in question as soon as we are able. Items that are unopened and in resaleable condition can be returned for a full refund, exchange or credit. Cut items can be returned with a 20% restock fee. Please let us know as soon as possible if there are problems. Returns/problems must be reported within 14 days of the invoice date, and returns are expected to be received within 30 days.
Canadian and international shipping happens twice a week. Please contact us for rush delivery prices.
We welcome special orders. If there is an item offered by our suppliers that we don't currently stock, we would be delighted to bring it in for you. If it is anything even vaguely related to knotting, braiding, beading, etc... we will do our best to hunt them down, or at least point you in the right direction.
As a Canadian company located in British Columbia, GST must be charged to orders being shipped to Canadian locations, and PST charged to orders being shipped anywhere in BC.