aizome cuts it too

the very best vat ever. i think all my problems were due to the quality of the indigo i was using.this ai is a dream. this will become a dress

here's the bottom part.

first dip, 5-7 minutes.                                                                      second dip, 5 minutes.
the silk remained lustrous.







neki desu
 

but without ray davies

those of you who came of age in the sixties will immediately recognize the pun.if younger you came across a venerable old man singing waterloo sunset during the closing ceremony of the london olympics.

pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone working with new to me materials. crepe wool presents challenges in warp and weft as well.

the crepe wool beamed relatively well with lots of patience. the fine wool had a different tension and was weaving loose, so i re-beamed( the ancients recommend 2 warp beams-but this was a no-go on this loom) and weighted the sections separately.

elections are over and life goes on.

and of life matters here. fancy a blue wooden floor?

neki desu
 

dying to dye

but the weather is foul.have to revive the vat from last year as soon as the weather improves,no rain no storms. the white knit, a gift from a friend, will also get a kakishibu treatment. want to experiment overdyeing ai with kakishibu. or vice versa.

there's also a silk yardage that has been waiting to get printed.hope the screens are still operative.















neki desu

waiting therapy

also known as procrastinating. have a bunch of beautiful excuses such as waiting for more heddles.

this is  free motion machine embroidery on needlefelt , hand stitching ,ai dyed commercial  knitted bandage, digitally printed organza and angelina fiber. also lots of fun while i wait.

neki desu

i have something to show

this is how far i've come.  patching gifted and dyed scraps to make a  summer bed cover .i still have a long way to go. this is just a meter square and my bed is 150x 190,  hoping i'll have enough scraps. ai vat is on its last leg , don't want to add more ai to it. it still dyes, but the colors come somewhat tealish. motainai, motainai, but this is not a patchwork.

on another subject already sent my entry to the juried show. now i just have to wait and see.

neki desu
 

harvesting time

this summer crop: all shades of blue and then some more that didn't get to the photo call.

still waiting to call aizome done. if it keeps warm and doesn't rain maybe i can get one more week's worth of dyeing.

it has taken many, many summers to get to the stage i am in now but, i feel that finally oh finally i am in command of the vat, not the other way around. i have even started to push it as when i scraped the bottom of last year's vat to use the solidified indigo. talk about 勿体無い    mottainai!

on the mottainai subject i am piecing together all those ai dyed samples and making a cover. the center is already pieced and the sides are slowly growing.

neki desu
 

not only this

but i am also going to have wonderful cotton thread for stitching! even the polyester-shudder, shudder- rag at the bottom has dyed well.

the vat is going so very well that i am tempted to keep dipping this.better not tempt fortune, judicious me says.

i am working on two cotton gauze items to be dyed soon. life is good.

neki desu

yards and yards

meters and meters of wonderful cotton gauze, etymologically from that  ill fated place.

now i only need sunshine to run an ai vat to process some of it.

neki desu
 

views

 winding bobbins for a warp here cochineal and ai.  still under sakura fever; pink is not my color.


fourth dip but on hold.

here's the reason. not complaining because there has been a 5º temperature drop which put me back in the studio. knitting a project.





neki desu
 

sakura

look where all that spring  sakura surfaced!

a whisper of a japanese cotton crinkle stole dyed with cochineal, subtle white lines suggesting 

mountain paths. indigo itajime overdyed.

visit here and scroll down to the end  for more information.

neki desu
 

the bleeding cochineal

tempted to open it, but i am adding dips. some of the cochineal has bled; let's see how much is still left on the scarf.don't mind the way it has affected the indigo in some parts. actually, i think it adds to the whole thing.

still bleeding hot although i need to heat the vat  :(

the photo is from the phone not the best quality. good for instagram, but not for a blog.

neki desu
 

nothing that an aquarium warmer can't solve

it's all about temperature. weather's hot, ai vat is being heated with my god sent aquarium heater and  the vat is rolling. very nice cotton yarn after three 1 min dips.

this one even looks better. thrilled with the blue
after 3 dips. more to come today.

 and also this one is being processed.

feels good to be so productive albeit the heat.

life is good.

neki desu

and now cochineal

bright,bright cochineal. remembered to buy bottled water because our water is vile .the skein on the left after an acid modifier-plain ol' lemon juice.

some ai. think it is this ai, 

cannot get darker than this. perhaps it is too old?

will dip them more today

but i think i already know the answer. 

this is not the first time.

neki desu
 

grateful for a beautiful trailer

to end a bitter cold week.giving thanks it will be over.
have a good weekend .




neki desu

going on and on and...

and strangely giving better blues now. can't explain but will post a comparison tomorrow. this morning i didn't even have to add  hydro to the vat, it was still nice and yellow.
moving on.
why cant i post a link to my instagram photo and yet anyone can download it? beats me.



neki desu
 

decisions

to exhaust the vat or to replenish it. this year the ai gods have been walking by my side. it just took an aquarium heater to appease them! i was also able to revive, YES! a 2.5 year old mini vat, for the first time and without setting any precedent.

will i be able to sleep well feeling all that smugness?  ^ _^ 

the second one from the left has 7-8 dips, had to open the itajimes to oxidate them well. think will re clamp them back.

the cotton yarn is calling a white warp with blue stripes. come october.

neki desu
 

pleased to inform

that the heater works well. it only goes up to 34ªC as it is for aquariums and not for making fish broth.

i bought the 100w. one, but in theory the 50 w one would have been enough as you need a watt x liter.

the extra wattage means that it heats quicker, but once the thermostat get to 34º it shuts down.

that said it takes out the chilly edge from the vat and puts it to work. to go up to 40º must be heaven on earth, but have not found anything that could take the vat there.

another consideration i'm taking is that since the temp is not optimal i'm letting it rest for an hour after each session.

yesterday's catch.i am a very happy camper.

neki desu
 

will work for anything

just to be able to pay the electricity bill. had to bite the dust and get one because it didn't matter whether we were roasting, the ai vat was 25ºC and wasn't going anywhere. we'll see how this works.

the cord extender will be a tripper . i have also been warned by the  maker that it is not intended for other uses. but do you really think that the heater minds that the water to be heated is blue??i don't think so.

neki desu

it's the p.h. stupid!

more things i've learned with/ from this vat:

most of the time one tends to o.d. on the reducing agent when just by adjusting the p.h. the vat gets going again. excess reducing agent as you savy dyers know creates problems such as stripping the cloth of the already deposited color . it also produces splotchy dyeing, i've found; correct me if wrong.

continuing to dye pieces for the cover. doing the happy dance because i found a pair of old worn to death  jeans that i'm going to cut and dye.

i have gained enough confidence this summer and with a little

help from a friend* this big vat is waiting its turn for next summer. must be at least 50 liters. shudder.

 interesting comments from yesterday's post. velma's point that men in textiles  usually become names is very thought provoking.

neki desu

of itajime and a future cover

right, the next installment is preparing fabric for some kind of cover. duvets are too hot in september or october yet sheets are too flimsy because-hopefully- nights will be chilly.with the scraps i'm dyeing and adding some gifted squares and odd bits of jeans and such i want to patch all of that into a cover.
some  of them might get a stitching treatment nothing arty, just to add interest to the monochrome .

more itajime on the works.there's some cotton yarn as well . preview of coming winter attractions.
moving on .
have you noticed that for 1 person who's doing original work there are gazillion re-fries and or pins on pinterest?
one more thing. this is going to sound sexist, perhaps it is,but have you noticed that men bring a different look-feel to textiles?
there are some working in weaving, knitting and stitching and i find their work very stimulating.
is it because they don't do pretty?
( am i opening a can of worms with this heat???)



neki desu