migrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With no one holding my hand i completed the infamous blog migration. It went just as described by the blogger schpeel, so cannot complain here. True my blog is small and it does not have a lot of windings. But i must confess i was holding my breath for the whole 7 minutes the process took.
Haven't started adding widgets or anything, too much excitement in one day, but eventually i'll start playing. And problems will arise-Murphy's Law again.
Had enough at Nihongo today, te kudasai verb endings. It's cramming, something i'm not proficient at.
Ok better cut this short , test your connection now sign is flashing pink an i want to post. Same problems in a different wrapper?
Oh and the cool pink ninja avatar was a courtesy of Avimator

neki desu

Tags:

inventions that have changed my life

or at least have made it easier.

• weaving programs!!!all that i have been able to explore wouldn't have happened had i had to use graph paper and pencil.Murphy's Law dictates that the mistake always happens in the center, so one has to erase half and start all over again. Also virtual sampling is one of the wonders of modern world.

• Digi cams. Don't have to set up lights anymore or shoot an entire roll for just a couple of pictures, not to mention the waiting time until the roll gets developed. One can also avoid scratched negatives and slides. And it's a clean technology.
  

• photoshop!!!!!! or the blessing of being able to correct a photo, contrast, lights, color, and eface a crummy background. Great for creating images which then can be woven or printed on to fabric or designing or ... the sky's the limit.

• computer assisted dobby looms. Yes, try changing tie ups .

• the Internet- goes without saying- fantastic for breaking studio isolation. Have met great people on line which then have met in person and have become friends with. Also my sister and i are more in contact now since we both share an acute dislike of going to the post office.
  

Which brings me to the subject of this photo which is almost a compendium of all the above.
It is a photo that was digitalized and manipulated and then printed on silk organza and hand stitched done before i joined the TAST
challenge. I have learned scads in these weeks and keep looking forward to each new stitch that Sharon proposes. Will definitely take one of her on line courses when i finish Japanese.

neki desu

a blanket from crete

TAST week 3-Cretan stitch. Don't know why, but every time i let myself go i ended up with buttonhole stitch.Undo and back again. i used dmc varigated thread, some rayon floss, hand dyed heavy silk floss and hand dyed perle cotton. The pink and yellow are cotton sewing threads. Maybe it was the north wind but i was uninspired and did not enjoy this week's stitch as much as the previous ones.Well, let's take it as the yang of the ying or the ying of the yang.

Same for the weaving which has been very difficult to work. Flyaway silk doupioni, just like my hair.

neki desu

Tags: weaving, TAST, embroidery, stitching

danto again

rethoric

seeking to arouse certain attitudes towards whatever is being described- describing it in such a way as to cause the appropiate emotion to arise.

metaphors
an artist may express his friendship for a man by painting a portrait of that man's favorite dog;the painting is an expression of friendship, but it does not in consequence express friendship.
.... the philosophical point is that the concept of expression can be reduced to the concept of metaphor,when the way in which something is represented is taken in connection with the subject represented.

Arthur Danto- The Transfiguration of the Commonplace

Many more thought provoking theories in the book.

neki desu

Tags: philosophy of art

this is the photo

that goes with the previous post which blogger does not let me publish along with the text.

neki desu

Tags: blogging

mantra

Change the type of thread
Change the number of strands
Change the the size of the stitch
Change the the spacing of the stitches
Change the angle of the needle.

It is very windy today,the north wind blowing with a vengeance. That means cold and lots of static elecrticity. Too bad there's no chocaolate at home! Warp yarns were going PINNG!! like crazy so i had to stop weaving and am concentrating on stitching this week sample and doing some dyeing as well.
These are the gorgeous silk skeins that i bought before Xmas.It is silk doupioni from China i was told. It feels more like jute and but has an unmistakable sheen. The skein on the background was scoured in a weak solution of soda ash:came out fine, no damage except for the fact that a mild rolling simmer gave it a little crimp. I think it can be remedied or what the heck, just be left as is and the weaving will take care of it.

Nihongo class was mind boggling today. We were studying a very complex structure full of different particles and looking at each other rather blankly when it dawned on me that it was the going+ activity in English. Going shopping!That helped a bit.
Lots of homework for the weekend, a kanji test on Monday and lots of social activities too. There's a mochi party to celebrate the New Year and the kids from the Japanese school are going to play the drums.it promises to be a blast with nihongo students from all over town trying to practice their language skills while eating mochi.

Let's see if Blogger graces me with picture posting capabilities.Posting problems AGAIN!

neki desu

Tags: weaving, stitching, japanophilia

messy messy blogger

No yosakoi today so i did the rounds and check out what the other TAST participants are up to. Having some time i indulged and at some point i was afraid blogger would penalize so much activity on my part by marking my blog as spam.
Some pretty incredible work out there. i feel i am going to need one more life (or two)to explore some of the ideas posed.
some really cool work on the Flikr sites
Delores
Jaqui
Elizabeth Dee
Jowynn
Could not leave comments because one has to create an account and frankly i can't handle yet another one. But i wanted to let you know that i enjoyed your work.

On the home front here are some pictures of how the weaving is developing. This is the"photoshop weaving" segment that i mentioned.
it is a royal PITA to photograph silk especially when having iridescence so the colors are off again.The warp is 3 values of purplish blue + turquoise blue weaving with royal blue.The other layer is coral- red in some parts- that weaves with the light lime weft. Notice my Japanese shuttles with those gorgeous silk bobbins. I hauled them along during the trip,but have given me wonderful service.

Blogger has been acting up again.Some of my comments to TAST people were returned due to some errors on their side. As for this post i'm on my second day, let's see what happens. What i can see is that there's no way tags will show.Every time i feel i'm ready for the switchover to new blogger life warns me.

neki desu

getting things done

It feels great when one can cross out things from the to do list and yesterday was such a day. Here is the TAST
stitch of the week detached chain or lazy daisy. I feel more confident now and allow
myself to wander a bit with the needle in a sort of controlled chaos. As for threads i have used hand dyed 10/2 perle, metallic thread, silk and hand dyed silk doupioni along with a bit of rayon ribbon. It is wonderful to put to use all those silk thrums.

The weaving is going really well.Amazing how enjoyable it can be even when a deadline is looming.i decided to oomph the coral warp a bit by over painting it in light red. Then i changed the tie up to show more of the coral warp. What i'll do is weave both ends with the more subdued tie up and the central part with the more contrasted one. It's photoshop weaving!

Still have to finish the Japanese homework. We are getting quite sophisticated language wise. Now we are learning to express desires, just change the masu ending to tai et voila! Wish things in real life were that easy.

neki desu

weaving on a Sunday afternoon

i can't imagine anything better.Especially after such a long hiatus.
Lately a lot of old time tunes seem cue my writing.Is it a way of counter attacking the winter blues?
Now that i mention the blues the picture is slightly off color, but i wanted to post my first 10 centimeters of the sampling. It's a double weave one warp a coral silk doupioni and the second warp in 3 shades of purple plus turquoise silk doup as well.

On the other hand i would like to express my gratitude to sharon b for posing the TAST challenge. i found myself sitting at the loom full of anticipation wondering about the next stitch. It is not only a learning experience for me, but it is also a very enriching one since it breaks studio isolation. Great to be inspired by other people's work and even better to read about their thought processes.
And on top of all it is fun!

Came back from the yosakoi dead tired.The steps we practiced today were real killers, one has to be a coordination ace to follow the whole routine. But it is worth the laughs.

neki desu

Tags: weaving, life in general, TAST

right behind you

i get the the story
or something of the sort, misquoting The Who in Tommy. Finished the TAST
challenge of this week-button hole.

Things i've learned:

• linen is beautiful,but stretches and the hoop needs to be constantly adjusted.Should have known that by the way linen yarns behave on the loom!
• i feel attraction to the negative spaces more than the positive ones
• i get bored doing an orderly sample
• i like to see "the maker's hand" . Although i really admire those perfectly perfect even stitches, controlled imperfection calls me - the wabi aesthetics and philosophy that attract me.
  

Doing some blog rounds i have been pleasantly surprised to note that i am not as behind for this week's challenge as as i thought.
Now i have the whole weekend to weave and yosakoi

neki desu

Tags: embroidery, stitching, japanophilia

should have paid more attention in geometry class

Joined the take a stitch tuesday challenge
and the stitch for last week was herringbone. Already running behind and i have just started Japanese. Impossible to imagine how it will be when all's full swing.
Anyway i'm interested in the challenge as a learning experience, not as a pastime, because i don't have time to pass.The challenge will force me to ponder about stitching a bit and give me structure and direction because we all know how hard self study is.I have a very limited background in stitching and it dates back to the begining of times, my times at least.

Well, ponder about angles i did. Fascinating how the slant of the needle changes the stitch. I decided to go for linen fabric to avoid markings as much as i could. Still not too sure whether marking is kosher, but i had to mark the circle. And had a bit of dye run at the top when i rinsed the markings. Totally mortified.
Daunted by the work i have seen from fellow challengees.
Check them out
Elisabeth whose blog name i adore
Sara
Karin
Barbara
I need more time to visit everyone's blog, but right now it's that or stitch.
Meanwhile still warping the loom for this month's sample for my study group. Tried to salvage 3 skeins of dyed silk that were somawhat tangled and have been struggling along. Feels as if this is my very first warp.

neki desu

Tags: stitching, embroidery