the benibana chronicles part I

my vintage benibana. bought in 1994 on my first trip to japan at tokyu hands.lots of water has gone under the bridge since. for example i can now read japanese si i don't need to write what it is ｡^‿^｡

and tokyu hands ,at least the one in shibuya, doesn't carry dyestuffs and weaving tools anymore. sad.

from the yellow dye i could dye some linen yarn which turned out a pretty gold yellow.
quite pleased with it.

this is the apparently useless color (yellow) that i cannot bring myself to throw away.

found that if you add an acid, using glacial acetic acid bcse it's cost effective, you can get corals on silk. further experimentation in order.

actually, these samples  are a bit more coral than the yellow in the photos.

 there's a lot to learn .i am concentrating this summer on benibana , bypassing indigo and madder.

neki desu

 

more benibana

hope i can get it right.

have a good weekend

neki desu 

 

the first day of summer

26º in northern spain and sunny. dyeing ahoy.

benibana tied in a bag giving away the yellow color. one either throws it away(not) or uses it on cotton.

as the red doesn't stick to cotton one uses it to absorb it and then deposit it in another bucket with water for dyeing with it. benibana red or hot pink will result. using bottled water because  my new water hasn't been tested yet. ( ≧Д≦)

the sources. even after complying all the info there are missing instructions. does one mordant the cotton?? anyone?

silk is mordanting and tomorrow dyeing( note the spelling) will commence.

neki desu