kakishibuzome- the return

My friend Rosa graciously hauled around 5kg of green persimmons from the country. Not only that, but she brought them to my doorstep on her motorbike. Talk about having the right stuff!

This morning found me in the kitchen cutting up and mashing the persimmons. i first begged them to forgive me for not treating them the traditional way, beating them with a wooden mallet instead of using a blender.
On the other hand i don't think the fruit really cares that i had to adapt the process to a city kitchen. A small city kitchen. But i wanted to cover my back just in case. Traditionally water is added to the mash, but i had to add water to the chopped fruit, 2 cups, give or take, per 4 fruit. This gave me around 8 liters of mash and water and i added some more water for the pot

Now the mash is resting outside on the terrace until it ferments and is ready for the juice to be pressed out. This will be in about a week's time. Then the juice will be aged for.. horns tooting loudly ...2 or 3 years!
i have already written up my will in case something happens to me Rosa inherits the
aging liquid and has to complete the process.


neki desu

multi tasking

Still indigo dyeing and more excited about it after i found this web page. There's the reason to keep trying to get command of the fermentation vat. Nevertheless that will have to wait for next summer.
But right now between dips there are lots of things to take care of,the rush before Japanese classes begins is alive and kicking badly. There's still something on the loom that hasn't been tended for a while. That one also has to be finished. Some ATCs in different stages have to be pushed. And designing.

Don't know if this one will ever make it to fabric either digi printed or dyed and worked on. But i liked the way it turned out, so here it is. The colors are fractal images with layers and layers of textures. It reminds me of Shinjuku in Tokyo.

neki desu

buttonhole band

This week finds me uploading last week's TAST and without the benefit of Elisabeth of Quieter Moments who fuels my imagination.As a result this sample is very plain, almost verging on the boring.
Presently i'm getting my kicks from indigo dyeing which is going so well it has me walking around with a silly grin. Husband is another chapter in the story, he's ready to file for divorce because of the smell which is no big deal, just the characteristic indigo vat smell.

i used DMc embroidery ,spun silk for texture and silk doupioni dyed by myself.
For the ladders i used perle cotton recycled from a shibori dyeing session. Sometimes i keep the yarns i use for arashi shibori as i like the results and it is also instant gratification for being frugal.

i think there are possibilities with the diamond shapes but need to be worked better.
And there's also a lot of play with curved ladders. i have to get back to this stitch during a winter night.

neki desu