The criet resembles a wingless cricket, about the size of a thumb, with two large eyes on the top of its flat head and a mouth underneath. It has seven legs, three pairs plus one under the head that acts like antenna and tongue. Its hard exoskeleton is smooth and matte and can be a variety of jewel and earth tones. Each different color of criet can chirp a single note at various volumes; together the creatures can form strange songs. The criet can vary the volume and duration of its chirp and will warble its call when in distress. Criet cannot fly or jump, but they can run and have good traction on vertical surfaces.

The criet only feeds on a specific type of bush called bague. Growing up to a yard tall, the bague has matted, spindly branches of chocolate-colored wood with navy flesh. The sage leaves are veinless and release navy juice when crushed. The juice, bark, and leaves of the bague are edible to humans and have a spicy taste. The leaves can be eaten raw, dried, or steeped, and the bark is typically hashed and stewed, though it can be dried like jerky. The juice is used as flavoring and dye.

Criet spin a silk that is 1-cm in diameter (pencil-width). When fresh, the silk is navy-colored with a smooth texture; cut ends have a charred look. The silk will naturally stick to itself and to the braches of the bague, and it can be braided into rope and nets. Fresh silk is virtually unbreakable, but it quickly ages. After about a week, the silk turns white, hardens, and takes on a slick glass-like texture. White silk is highly fragile and will shatter if handled roughly. Sometimes criet silk is molded and allowed to harden into vases and art. Criet silk is waterproof and can withstand fire, but prolonged exposure hastens aging.

Criet have a variety of natural predators; most insect-eating animals will prey on criet. However, criet are insanely curious about humans and have been known to approach humans and initiate “friendships.” They are docile, easily tamed, and will breed and spin in captivity as long as they are provided with bague bushes.

The leaves fade to white, turn bitter and crumbly, and fall in late autumn. When temperatures drop below freezing, the bush grows tiny navy berries in bunches of seven. The berries have a similar taste to the leaves and are used for the same purposes; they can also be dried and ground as a spice. The berries last until the temperature warms above freezing, when they dry, turn white, and drop off. Unless animals or humans carry the berries away, a new bush will grow near to the parent plant where the berries fall; as such, wild bague bushes usually grow in dense matts.

The criet eat the leaves, which regenerate quickly, from spring to early fall. In the winter they eat the wood and the berries; they help keep the bush from overgrowing and spread the seeds farther from the parent plant. Criet in captivity will eat dried parts of the plant.

Criet live in unorganized colonies wherever the bague is found. They typically sleep on or under their bush and stay near the colony, but they will stray to great distances if they have someone to follow – usually a human. They get along well with each other but do not tolerate other insects, birds, or other animals that would feed on their bush. Male criet spin silk year-round to mark territory against other insects. They will string the area around their bush with long lengths of silk, creating nets of parallel strands in hopes of deterring other animals. Female criet wind their silk into tiny egg sacks, filled with seven navy eggs apiece, which the males fertilize and hang on the branches of the bague. The eggs hibernate in the sack for about 3 weeks, at which point the newly hatched insects break the hardened sack and emerge. Criet will hang their egg sacks on other structures if kept in captivity, and they will weave their nets around any available surface. If they cannot find a structure to stick or hook their silk to, they will simply wind the silk across the floor, making it easy to harvest.

Mel, as you know, you can knit with anything you can force around the needles! I wouldn't recommend knitting with this silk, though. It sticks to itself, and your knitted object would only last a week before it turned to glass. Knowing us, we might not even finish knitting it before it hardened!

and it can be braided into rope and nets. Fresh silk is virtually unbreakable, but it quickly ages.

the bush grows tiny navy berries in bunches of seven....Female criet wind their silk into tiny egg sacks, filled with seven navy eggs apiece,

They will string the area around their bush with long lengths of silk, creating nets of parallel strands in hopes of deterring other animals.

Seven colors of criet, one for each musical note:
C – burnt orange
D – mustard
E – dark forest green
F – navy
G – dark purple
A – maroon
B – chocolate

Female criet sing the flat of their color note. Young criet of both genders sing a sharp; when they reach maturity, their song deepens to its regular note.

Only the male crickets chirp. A large vein running along the bottom of each wing has "teeth," much like a comb does. The chirping sound is created by running the top of one wing along the teeth at the bottom of the other wing. As he does this, the cricket also holds the wings up and open, so that the wing membranes can act as acoustical sails. It is a popular myth that the cricket chirps by rubbing its legs together.