a fascinating craftsman

left the windsurf pro competition world and took over the family dyeworks.

"the beauty of an object lies with the  human hand that made it"

neki desu

 

more ai dregs

on fabric. getting the hang of it and cultivating bravery for thickening it and stamping on the right side.

it works so far it has even been submerged in water with little loss of color. however, wash and wear is beyond my scope of reseach. although it still needs work this piece is gradually coming together.

on the other hand this one is done.

after many years of being an 

unrepenting UFO.  ¯\ ( ツ ) /¯ 

talk about time travel! this is 

from my digital printing background
 period. digitally printed dyed  silk with a silk shibori scrap, silk velvet and raw silk embellished with french knots

notice the mention of time travel again. current obsession.

neki desu 

 

yuzen

 

beyond delicate. and please note the tools.

have a good weekend

 neki desu

 

color development

beautiful collapse after washing .

first dye, not what i want.

second dye, came out uninteresting, too lilac. have to keep on trying

neki desu 

   

it works

 dream come true as envisioned. just had to buy the  trolley. wheel it out to the terrace and open the tap;dye liquid directly out and into the drain then hose the vat. dyeing has never been easier.
life is good.

there were fireworks last night, very enjoyable.did i say life was good?



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back up

back up pot for dyeing which hopefully will begin this week.

professional grade inox on sale ^ _^ for 69€, 20 liters.how could i not?

Wanted something wider and less tall, but beggars can't be chooser.

neki desu
 

japanese cotton

bought this big hank composed of 6 skeins at the wonderful kyoto yodabashi depato at a more than reasonable price, surprise,surprise.
their third floor is full of sewing gadgets, some nice fabrics, beads and all you can think of.
back to the cotton : it's a good 2 ply twisted cotton about 2/20 i should guess.
dyeing this skein with budleja and see how it turns out.


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the best rinse

brook from neki rivera on Vimeo.


is an old fashioned brook and let the water flow. 5 minutes and no  more unfixed dye.forget washing machines, tubs and whatnots. plus the added fun! i put on my wellies so that i could do some splashing in the water. joys of semi country living.
some kids from the hood were watching puzzled,but were polite enough not to ask.




now drying.no bleeding! tomorrow beaming
and with luck start threading














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kakishibu again

dyeing with kakishibu again.  fearlessly using the powder i bought years ago because i got more in japan and it will eventually get here.used a ziplock bag as i did not want to dilute it excessively,using enough water to cover the yarn. even though it came out on the pale side.

the silk hank getting the uv treatment to modify

the color.will need some more dips.

note the new background. my former grungy sienna wall no more.

on another note today is field tuesday in asturias.

people go out to the countryside or a park in a sort of good weather at last celebration. there's special food ( chorizo stuffed buns) and wine or the first cider of the season and general jolliness.

good times.

neki desu

color correction

i have also been doing some light menial work such as correcting some underwear pinks into something much more palatable.i hate pink!
the first skein is more coral. the last one was blah beige and so was the one on the infamous linen warp.yep, still on the loom. i had enough with the hand to add insult to injury.








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the stencil making

the preparation of dyes, the dyeing.the japanese way of honoring  process.
have a good weekend.







neki desu

vicarious dyeing

missing my dyeing pots badly.
have a good weekend






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vicarious practices

studio still in bad shape. thank goodness for vids
enjoy your weekend!



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living dangerously-again

from this to the above. cochineal with cream of tartar aka tartaric acid + tin. the combination develops the reds, it's very tomato red unlike the photo which has a bluish overcast.
on a very happy note i gathered courage and turned on the k machine.it did turn on!
YO! i am the queen of soldering .





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storing

for a session to come.i'm going to keep records this time.














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dyed and gone to heaven

 a bit bluer actually. now  superwash, and zipper buying. hopefully it will be done by tonight.
dyeing linen is a different story altogether.


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more collapse

it took me very long,but finally this warp is beamed.the white yarn stripe on the left of the pinks is an 18turn x cm wool very fine i'd say about 1/60nm.you can imagine managing the kinks! frequent breaks help as i just managed 3 broken ends.
the pink is cochineal, the darker terracotta is madder :( thinking about piece dyeing either red with leena's mushrooms or logwood. still have time to think about it.



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first color layer

light grey. now on to tying the dots.folded double means half the work + i ensure consistency in the placement of the motifs. the weaving was fun, the color came out just as i wanted. moving on to next phase.





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and now on to sourcing buttons

finished top, quite happy with the outcome.  it hangs well although it looks a bit wonky in the photo because it has no buttons so it is pinned closed.don't know if i'll find the buttons i want: matte plastic squares.

the fabric is nice and crisp and the marriage of aizome and kakishibu zome yarns is a winner.

such pleasure of being in command of all the process from dye pot to final garment.i know; i'm missing spinning, but life's not getting longer.

neki desu
 

good to have adequate tools

the weather is overcast and muggy, awful  for being outside brushing dye to a pre mordanted scarf.

i know i am going to regret my wishes for sunshine, but at least it is dryer. i have been working inside after creating some space out of  my ever chaotic studio full of lots of everything .

anyhow  paraphrasing my beloved sennet and the craftsman it is good to have the required  tools  to complete a task.

note the harite on the foreground stretching taut the scarf. underneath some shinshi completing the task. 

i was mildly upset because all the tool nomenclature at tanaka nao has been changed and i was left in the dark.that said no one fabricates craft  tools like the japanese. they have elevated tool making to a craft itself.

the brushes;  works of art in themselves. the fat one is a small ground dyeing brush. if you regulate the amount of dye / paint you can get nice gradations. the other brush is for painting edges sharp. i think painting  fabric is my excuse for using these and getting extra pleasure from the job.

the scarf will be cured for a couple of days, then folded shibori like and dyed in ai perhaps? stay tuned.

neki desu