of jugs and wine

This is the Catalan wine drinking jug mentioned in the previous
post. Could not include the photo because Blogger was acting up.Again.
Here is another picture of the drinking joust.




neki desu

incursions in hedonism

There are few things that can top a Sunday afternoon with good friends, good food, good laughs and beautiful landscape.
My Japanese class tomodachi and senseis were invited to a 1200's ( yes, you read it right) country house in Reus, 100 kms.south of Barcelona. It was a calçotada a very typical Catalan early spring eating affair.Food is abundant, all kinds of cured and grilled sausages, lamb chops, assorted salads and the star of the event: calçots with romesco
sauce, something to keep an eye on since it can be used on a variety of dishes , from grilled fish to salads. Wine. of course, flows freely and more than often appetites are whetted by playing a friendly soccer match while the calçots are on the barbecue.

The laughs,the shared chores, the dodgy soccer teams ,with the girls all playing Rachel Green,contributed to make this a mmorable event. Not to mention our Japanese teachers that were in awe, eyes like saucers, of the house and the space. Having such space constraints in their country they are spellbound when they see a 300sq meter house with acres of land surrounding it.
Numerous anecdotes took place,the most notable one being that sensei was almost an hour late!!
Another star event is the jug dinking joust where everyone with a bit of pride has to participate no matter if one ends up with wine all over one's clothes.Goes without saying, the cordon bleus do not spill a drop.

If you are ever around Catalunya in the spring a calçotada is something, even at a country restaurant without the friends and the teachers,not to be missed.


neki desu

TAST fly stitch

Time flies when you're doing the fly stitch.i found it very enjoyable and actually if worked small and tight it does look like little bugs.
i used perle cotton and rayon floss on the lower part.There are lots of other possibilities to be explored with this stitch.
Moving on
This is something i found in Deepa's blog which bears reading and saving. No further comment needed.
This and that...my random thoughts: Thought Provoking!!!

neki desu

the exhibit

Busy week this has been.Yesterday was the opening of the Arts and Crafts School 90th anniversary exhibit.The gallery, in a late 1800's early 1900's building, is absolutely beautiful with a huge skylight and lots of natural light. It is a real gallery, the way the ancients envisioned one.


This was my submission a short series of 3 works having to do with the passing of time and ageing- very adequate for the event.They are small format less than 20 cms and woven in silk, linen and wool.The pieces were scanned and the image was manipulated and then printed on silk organza and this served as the background for each piece.Two of them were fulled and further embellished with stitching and a small red bead dangling by a thread. This is the metaphor. Life is full of surprises because i had submitted them to another show and they were not accepted. Yet they were well received here by the jury.


Saw some ex classmates that i hadn't seen in a long time. All in all it was a very pleasant event. And of course, the canapês were great!

neki desu

TA DAA!!

And drum roll.Finally off the loom! The cause of so many woes. Have not wet finished nor ironed yet, but iwas so pleased to have finished and twisted the fringe that i wanted to wait no more and post it.
Notice that the pattern changes subtly as it progresses. It is intentional because i wanted the ends wich will be closer to the face in a more contrasted pattern.
Techie talk ahead.
This is a 4 color double weave.however my color choices for warp and weft did not give me 4 distinctive colors,a lesson learned.Both warp and weft are hand dyed silk doupioni. The slubs are characteristic of the yarn, not weaving mistakes aka design elements.

The photo here is the back and i am still debating which side to use for the front.

neki desu

free wheeling

Very excited about this piece.Started out as an interpretation of a photo which got lost in the computer never to be found again.Taken in the fall in Tarragona it was a photo of a building that was being redone and it was covered with a yellow mesh which rounded and softened the angles.

The photo was turned into a grey scale image and some of the clutter was cleared leaving just some basic shapes.



When i was happy with the outcome i dyed a piece of raw silk in black and after that i freely painted on it with discharge paste taking the photo as a springboard.
On to foiling and embroidery to make it all come together.
As a piece i modestly think it is successful,but i've been hashing and rehashing it to be objective.
Need outside feedback. What do my cyber friends think? Does it need something else or should i stop before i OD?

neki desu

a find

I found coriander sprouts at the health food store last weekend and being an all time coriander fan decided to give them a go.They have a faint lime taste with some nutty overtones that come from the seeds.All in all very fresh tasting and pleasant. So far the sprouts have been floated on soup giving it an extra kick. Added to salads a light balsamic vinagrette enhances their nutty flavor. And for a grilled eggplant sandwich coriander sprouts are the answer to boring greens.

itadakimasu!

neki desu

beautiful objects

Lazy Sunday,what luxury! Thanks to Annica ofFabulous Threads who gave me the idea of rice water to tame an unruly warp, i was able to finish the last 30 cms in a whizz. i can play now. The photo above is an itomaki, a Japanese weaving spool that i found in a bric-abrac in Takayama in the Japanese Alps.
The redeed is from the same shop an old one made from real reeds.

i do not collect textile tools. However if i happen to find one by chance i cannot
say no. Therefore in the course of time and travels i have acquired some beautiful objects of the trade.


I picked up the band loom in an open market in Cameroon. It is used by men because weaving is done by men in some African cultures. Did i hear someone snicker and say that weaving was female pursuit?
Enjoy.

neki desu

TAST 7

We're already into TAST week 7 just in case you thought time did not fly!Nothing to do with those endless summers when i was 11,12,13 where time stood still and the clock refused to move.
This is the sample for feather stitch.Although not addictive as the all time favorite-so far- eyelet it was enjoyable. i used verigated DMC yarn in beige-browns,perle cotton, rayon and the thick brown thread is silk on my standard beige linen.Have found use for my woven samples and remnants and will start experimenting.
Other matters while typing this i am listening to weavecast with podcasts of weavers and assorted weaving- fiber information.Great chance to hear the voices of some weavers we have already "heard" through their typing.

neki desu

no pain no gain

Feel like a weaving martyr.This is going on and on and on like the Duracell rabbit.
The warp from Hades keeps acting up no matter how much spray i use.Threfore a logical reaction is to weave less and engage in other pursuits. Like the picture here. Me as the weaving martyr. While working on it i got the silly giggles, at least good vibe hormones were liberated.The textile is the actual factual textile from Hades.

Moving on . The TAST sample is coming along well.It isn't an explosion like the eyelets, but it's fast to work. Hey! not every day can be Sunday.
Other matters,Nihongo. There's a list of similar sounding verbs to memorize for the mid term which has already been anounced for March the 3rd. Today Valentine's day( need i remark that?) we gave sensei a chokoreto heart. It was really funny because he bowed to the guys in class and just said thank you to the gals.i guess it is less compromising.

neki desu

kindness on the web

Thanks to all who visited and left suggestions for my uploading woes.
Let's see how it works out today.
After so much stitching i had to get back to weaving and it is going along well,albeit having spent a small sum on hairspray to control the sticky warp from Hades.
Needed some recreation so i visitedJudy's blog where she has a thought provoking post -Reading Linda Nochlin -about women and the arts.
Also stopped by SharonB's Mindtracks blog which i found very informative. Having come across the video last Tuesday it was interesting to find out the source.
Her post about knowing your blogging audience also gave me some things to think about.Will have to think and phrase the questions i came up with.

About today's image.It's a composite of a fractal image on the background a tesselation forming a textile pattern and an image i found on a Japanese website.And a lot of Photoshop.
All fun and games chilling out a bit in front of the computer.

neki desu

Eyelets 2

   
 

De a movable feast

ok the scoop is that apparently you can't upload 2 picts in the same post in new "better than ever and more fun" blogger. Or at least that's what happens to me, not to mention 2 picts and labels. All morning at this to end up with 2 separate posts. Anyone has ideas on how to solve this?

Back to what's interesting
With all that energy i produced another sample, this time in white,beige and ecru to see how the linen background acted. It was a different tune all together bcse the background was more part of the sample, more dialoguing or integrated with the stitches. Unable to stop i started doodling with a gold ink pen. Luckily my husband arrived and he was able to pull me out of the trance!

This second sample was done in cotton linen and rayon threads.
Check out the cheeky hole in the big beige linen eyelet.
i found this stitch very versatile in that it could
be used in a contemporary way.

neki desu

Eyelets

Wanted to stop, but i couldn't. Needed to stop, but i couldn't. Had to stop, yet i couldn't. It was like having a spay can in my hand and being surrounded by blank walls. It felt as exhilarating. This week TAST
sent my mind in all directions. Better start drawing and jotting down the ideas.
For the blue sample i used silk, linen and cotton threads. i tried small itsy bitsy spider eyelets, diamonds, upright lattice, square diamonds, off center centers, all i could think of. And i also explored being a bit more structured. Bummer, some of the blue threads bled.


Thank you Sharon!

neki desu

we are the machine, aren't we?

Found this today a crash course in Modern Anthropology 101. And quoting the title explained beautifully.
Could not embed the You Tube screen because it funked the layout, even after changing size.

enjoy

neki desu

inspiration

After spending half a day yesterday making cassoulet a la languedocien i needed something ethereal. Don't get me wrong,i love to cook (and eat) but cassoulet is somewhat on the substantial side, especially if one follows the Bocuse recipe. It is a once a year winter dish and next day you better exercise to burn all you have eaten.

Thus i found myself in need of tending my soul because my body was more than taken care of.
And the soul thinks Japan. Revisited some of my photos and came up with these 2.
The first one is very textilish,twines tying together a fence in Sado ga shima

The second one is at the silver pavillion temple Kyoto.Visitors tend to flock to the Golden Pavillion, hence the crowds, when the Silver pavillion has a discreet beauty and the gravel garden is superb. i got enthused with the patterns on the gravel and shot over a dozen photos.

Here is an inspiration gift for whomever wishes.

neki desu

TAST5

This time i'm early i hope this doesn't set a precedent. I'm late for the weaving sample, can't win them all!
The chevron stitch was a success in terms of enjoyment. i used a variety of threads including metallic and could not stop myself from wondering what if..? and wandering around the stitch.

i've decided that time permitting i'll dye most of the yarns in a thurm reduction strategy and will also use some of my woven samples. But this will be when i feel more confident with embroidery.

Oh and by the way what do you think of my adopted scissors? Scroll down the sidebar and you can play with them.

neki desu