knowledge transfer

 

ps.i see one more vid or tutorial of "eco printing" i'll scream. there's a lot of life beyond that.

have a good weekend.

neki desu

 

from shishou

a new vid about dyeing from the master.

have a good weekend.

neki desu 

 

a red like no other

cochineal on silk 2%wof. never had had  such bright results and the cochineal i have can be qualified as vintage.the silk was mordanted with aluminum sulfate and i believe there lies the reason for the results.

a lovely cool red.

playing with modifiers this excellent

bishop purple was achieved.

cant be more chuffed.

thinking about combining a warp of blue and this. but firts i need to run an ai vat for the blue.

coincidentally found out about a beautiful project here. some youngish folks contacted farmers whose land was fallow and convinced them to plant indigo,persicaria tinctoria, while at the same time contacting people from the textile industry luring them into indigo and sustainable dyeing.

the project is based on circular economy and suatainability and they have gathered their first crop this year.

the good news is that small folks like me will be able to source the dye from them as well.news can't be better.

neki desu

 

future possible

two hanks of already scoured organzine silk. if this weather continues and the warping goes so slow  i am considering running a mini ai vat and dyeing these babies.

if i don't frizzle before.

neki desu

 

maybe

 after serious mishaps with alkanet, just getting cat doodoo color, i sent an sos in one of the dyeing groups.the suggestion was alcohol extraction.yes, it worked.

now the choice is whether to dye this silk floss,gorgeous btw.

or overdye the cat doodoo silk skein. i want to shift the above towards the purple, this one would be left redish. these are the  wefts for the weaving .

after this think i'm done with alkanet.

neki desu 

 

out of commission

for the past weeks with a neck to forearm tendinitis.not pleasant.the first week doing computer work was excruciatingly painful so i stopped. dedicated that time to memorize some japanese verbs and structures.the bad news is that the guy who had excellent vids following the mina no nihongo book took them all down.he was very good explaining grammar and it is a big loss to the self study community.

(╯︵╰,). thinking about switching to the japan foundation marugoto program but still not clear. the ever falling between the cracks classification student and i have a severe dislike for placement tests.

the ailment has somewhat subsided i can do 

menial stuff. 

making ferrous print paste was one .

 this incredible goo was used on the scarf above and left to dry, then it was dunged in wheat bran chalk bath to fix it.

the iron which escaped to  the dunging solution  shifted the color somewhat towards a rusty yellowy rerd,but the bonus is that it will be more light resistant.

this piece will grace my neck bcse i don't think there's anyone  willing to pay for a 2 month process.

neki desu

 

some work done

i have not had any luck with ratanjot, a medicinal powder also used in indian cookery.  there's some confussion as some sources cite it as alkanet  and others as a different species other than alkanna tinctoria.

 anyhow i havent been lucky with either. used the alkanet from germany and got the same cat doodoo color 💩💩 i got from ratanjot.

cat doo doo overdyed with benibana.

tried addind washing soda to shift the color and there was no result. and my dears life's getting short and i wanted a purple. how did i get it? logwood overdye! infallible logwood which will be treated with a dash of iron to make it more lightfast .this project will not last the test of time bcse i am using benibana and logwood     ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯ 

 

august is done. it's been long hot and uncomfortable.looking forward to september amuch more people friendly month.

neki desu

 

life's truisms

one of life's truisms is that you get what you pay for. top bag is wha'ts left of the benibana purchased here. it was more than moderate in terms of price. bottom was bought from germany. deadly expensive  and on top of that i went all the way and bought a whole kilo. notice the difference in color, the bottom one's yellower a fact that made me rather uneasy imagining the yellow wash off.

but contrary to expectations there wasn't that much  more yellow in the petals and the wash off was shorter in terms of time spent.

now notice the color bath ; the one on the right 

is the locally sourced fist dye bath, the origin of the petals is unknown

on the left the german already used and on its second dye, petals from anatolia.

will show the outcome when the fabric is dry.

neki desu

 

dyeing to exhaustion

mind the spelling  and  enjoy the pun.

had always left over dye that went down the drain but after becoming aware of how scarce resourcea really are i am trying to do my share.

all the red has been collected just a bit of the yellow is left. time so start a new batch,but waiting to get fresh materials.

i have an understanding of the chemistry at a layperson's level,mind you,therefore i have better judgement.it is not an exercise in oh look! pretty! making. age is a wonderful luxury.

neki desu 

 

current obsession

they make it look easy, but don't be fooled. well, they've been at it for generations. 

 ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯ 

have a good weekend

neki desu

 

rising to the challenge

got rid of the yellowy tones by overdyeing again in that beautiful red soup.the  cotton shawl became more coral, but maybe while at it i should go for a pinker hue.

the shibori is looking good,of course the tie down thread cuts it better!it is hard to refrain my impatience to untie and look.but i'm planning on another dip and then the touches with ferrous acetate.

cotton is an embarrasing no brainer.

on the knitting department managed to finish the front with no issues. was happy and relieved until i found that i had used the wrong tension and it is smaller than the back. ⋋__⋌  

unravelling again, but took a break from it and knitting an artsy fartsy diversion.

neki desu 

 

iro iro

not a bad pink actually very satisfying. however need to work on it now that the process is clear.

the many steps fell into place and now it's just patience, says she humming a rolling stone's tune 

 ( ¨¨ ω¨¨ )   

a not bad coral as well. silk is really another animal.

now i need to get more benibana to keep going. i'm at my last 150 grams.

neki desu

 

emboldened by sucess

beautiful red water produces beautiful shocking pink color blankets.

but first i spent 3 whole days rinsing kneading and changing the water to the benibana petals until 99% of the damn yellow was gone. every 2 hours knead, rinse, change the water and back again. no pain no gain  v(^o^)v

such brilliant color is going to be discharged to dye silk.

neki desu

 

meanders

detour to wind a shibori,then plunked in benibana. it is surprising how much yellow and in comparison  how little red those petals have. or perhaps is the quality of the benibana. as the local supplier is out of stock and i am halfway through my supply i am going for broke and ordering a kilo from the netherlands. as the old adage goes you get what you pay for  just hoping the price does justice .

poor and red, doesn't it sound like a political statement? (￣ω￣ )

this is going to be a lenghty project bcse i want to exhaust the bath  and then do some ferrous acetate layer to spunk the color.

neki desu

 

beni days and discoveries

as ever those ties, color blankets and whatnots perform a lot more satisfacory colorwise than the actual pieces.

three or four days of continuous dyeing with an escape to candás for a sardine feast now that it's the season. i have to hone my observation skills because there are things that happen and no one adresses them.

for example that glorious shocking pink of the first 15 minutes turns into a coral if left overnight. 

even on cotton which in theory does not absorb the flavonoids. need to double check to see if it has to do w. the mordants as i alum-tannin-alum mordanted the cottons.

not that the color is not handsome,but my ikigai is red and shockindg pink

the silk came out coral, actually more of a fluo orange.not bad ,but not within the parameters.

neki desu

 

the red

finally red. the way to get it is to raise the PH to 11 with soda ash.

then putting a piece of open weave cotton in it to absorb the red dye. notice i say dye as there's a lot of confussion on the internet between dye and pigment. do yourself a favor and get the butrop/ellis dye book. you'll never dye the same way again. ask me how i know.

 the photo gave me a chuckle as it looks like the painting flaming june which is in the ponce museum of art in puerto rico.

after a 24 hour soak the cotton blanket has absorbed the red and is this gorgeous shocking pink. so far excellent. maybe it doesn't need to soak for that long, need to check on that.

 right. now i want to dye silk. silk put directly in the bath absorbs both the red and the traces of yellow still in the petals and dyes corals. so the trick is to disccarge the wonderful schiaparelli pink in acidulated water. you're aming PH6. bless the inventor of litmus paper, a great deal more efficient and precise than my digi PH meter which has to be calibrated every time and sometimes gives incorrect readings.

 you need to rinse the color  blanket before putting it in the acidulated bath or else yellow will transfer to the bath as well.

et voila mesdames! a soft pink silk skein. have some other skeins waiting to be dyed, aiming for deeper color. that's why one needs plenty of dyestuffs.

neki desu 

 

commited to benibana

as with everything else one needs time and plenty of materials  to study them without being afraid to blow it or waste them. learning procesess are based on those peremises.

here's 150 grams of benibana after one day and  numerous rinsisngs. a great amount of yellow has been washed out, but still there's considerable.

 one more day soaked overnight and there's less ,but still enough to give corals,it is amazing how much yellow benibana contains. dyeing red is very laborious and in a world full of haste it's not going to be popular.if one can add a teaspon of nescafe to hot water and get coffee why bother.

 after so many years of winging dyeing i am now taking notes, weighing  and checking the PH.

i got results with the no method,but i wasnt aware of the whys the hows. now my aim is more that of understanding the dye and the different ways it reacts.

i guess age comes with definite bonuses.

neki desu