quiet time

i managed to have some quiet time for stitching. this old linen piece from my mother in law's  was folded itajime style and dipped in indigo pigment various times and then aged.picked some lobelias and pounded them to the fabric  and brought it along with threads,  my needlecase and my japanese clipper scissors, which coincidentally went through security without causing bedlam, to my sister's just in case i needed something to do with my hands. wow!that's a mouthful of a sentence!!!

i am enjoying this pounding and stitching thing which started a week or so before my trip.made some try outs and think there's a lot to be explored. also a way of keeping things tight and not  spreading out too much.

anxiously waiting for the indigo to arrive.want to try the fructose-or was it glucose?- recipe and a new one by jenny dean. i have messed up so much indigo that paradoxically that has given me confidence!

and for the observant: notice anything new/different?


 neki desu

modestly helping the u.s. economy

these are my tally-buys: 4 oz crepe cotton, stamp ink pads, thread, metallic yarn.  what's inside the bags was free, windfall lichens that will make a dye pot.
not in the photo: natural indigo both pre reduced and powdered, a pair of shorts and three seed packets which already have been planted.
fingers crossed because if they sprout i'll have long coriander(eringyum foetidum L) and sweet bonnet peper ( capsicum chinense) which means rice and beans, yellow rice, pigeon pea rice, stews....yum yum!


neki desu

flip flop nation

back.
hadn't been to the states in 11 years and the changes are noticeable. for one people  in general are much more aware that they share the planet with other people. also there is less reckless buying binges, perhaps due to the economy, but i think it goes deeper than that.
sizes have shrunk in cars as well as in items at the supermarket. an individual yoghurt doesn't feed a family anymore and a toothpaste tube stopped being a landing strip. air con is set at a comfortable temp, not a  freeze to death one .

on the not so positive side i noticed a general tendency towards the unkempt and dishevelled. people walk around with mismatched wrinkled clothes and flip flops. little care is  spent  in personal grooming. and this is across the board, not only in the younger set, everywhere whether it be a mall, the airport or a restaurant.
i'm not saying that one has to be "in gowns", one can wear jeans,  a nice shirt with  a belt  and look smart. but an occasional comb through the hair, a hair or beard trim, some color coordination is not going to hurt.
i have gained a new understanding of the style blogs i frequent. they are rebels going against the grain!
is it just  because it was  in florida?? i wonder what has happened.

neki desu