coming up

my momiji katsura . it's an all season because it is splendid in spring, summer and autumn. when we moved up north i hauled it all the way from barcelona. such is love. 

neki desu

 

aya suiboku

finally did a little test run with the aya inksticks.

these color insticks are used in nihonga  or traditional japanese painting.

as i was having problems w. c card readers in japan i had to limit purchases. i didn't want to make extensive use of conbini atms bcse they were expensive so i was really counting on the cash i had with me. and a couple of exeptions such as high end places where readers behaved as intended. 

all this detour to mention that i didn't go to pigment tokyo and bought some of the inkstiks i wanted in kyoto.didn't get the water dish and spent time ever since i came back looking for alternatives. this one from the chinese bazaar works. so here i am doing some experimental work to see what they are like and how they work.

so far enji, which lo and behold is cochineal.

you pour a drop of water and rub the stick, here you can see some color.the color is intense and saturated works somewhat different from the shodo inksticks i have. granted they are not the very best from kobaien  plus rubbing inksticks  for  making ink for shodo is akin to a zen practice. however  these inksticks feel pleasant  in hand regarding  shape, weight and texture.

quick run on paper, looks good, but i should have done a degradation  to get more information. the pinker spots are not ink, but acrylic.

my friend is going to be in tokyo this summer and she's ok with bringing me the 3 colors and the inkdish i want.

neki desu

 

on its way

finally the third one was indeed the charm.some notes, however. it still needs blocking but i think the scoop neck is too low,too wide. maybe it was designed for stocky busty lasses,which is not the case here, so that when the neckband is attached it all falls into place. we'll see. i am constructing the back now then sleeves then blocking.we'll see when i hang everything on the machine to piece it and attach the neckband. hoping and wishing i don't have to repeat the front. ( ˃ ⌑ ˂ )

dying ( mind the spelling) to get on to the next knitting project.been watching the netflix j drama w. hirose suzu and she wears a zippered cardi worth knocking off.i in my lack of experience pressume cardis are easier to knit as i always f*up with holding the center neck stitches.my numbers never match the instructions.and i start with a correct number in the cast on.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

neki desu