my hero giving hope to the world

have a great weekend!
 and remember, don't buy food that lists long weird words you can't pronounce ;)



neki desu

it's the p.h. stupid!

more things i've learned with/ from this vat:

most of the time one tends to o.d. on the reducing agent when just by adjusting the p.h. the vat gets going again. excess reducing agent as you savy dyers know creates problems such as stripping the cloth of the already deposited color . it also produces splotchy dyeing, i've found; correct me if wrong.

continuing to dye pieces for the cover. doing the happy dance because i found a pair of old worn to death  jeans that i'm going to cut and dye.

i have gained enough confidence this summer and with a little

help from a friend* this big vat is waiting its turn for next summer. must be at least 50 liters. shudder.

 interesting comments from yesterday's post. velma's point that men in textiles  usually become names is very thought provoking.

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of itajime and a future cover

right, the next installment is preparing fabric for some kind of cover. duvets are too hot in september or october yet sheets are too flimsy because-hopefully- nights will be chilly.with the scraps i'm dyeing and adding some gifted squares and odd bits of jeans and such i want to patch all of that into a cover.
some  of them might get a stitching treatment nothing arty, just to add interest to the monochrome .

more itajime on the works.there's some cotton yarn as well . preview of coming winter attractions.
moving on .
have you noticed that for 1 person who's doing original work there are gazillion re-fries and or pins on pinterest?
one more thing. this is going to sound sexist, perhaps it is,but have you noticed that men bring a different look-feel to textiles?
there are some working in weaving, knitting and stitching and i find their work very stimulating.
is it because they don't do pretty?
( am i opening a can of worms with this heat???)



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second ai installment

the frugal textilianhas to put to use all those linen machine knitting samples. firrst move was dyeing, next we shall see.
those observant eyes will note that the lacy sample is much darker. 4 dips and had i been less impatient i would have ended with Kon (紺 ) or what we understand for indigo blue #191F45



these other samples are an insanely expensive cotton tulle used in bobbin lace. what for i don't know, lace makers please chime in!
i bought 20 cms, but being wide i have enough for my small scale work. i bought it foreseeing the summer blues :)

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warning! aizome rapture

tell me not it's a handsome vat. i went big leagues, from 5 liters to 20 and without much apeasing the
ai gods but with a lot of patience it worked.

 i am still unsure  regarding the checking and judging of the color so i 

prefer a clear plastic container.this one was salvaged from a restaurant's refusals.

 it contained  remains of sunflower oil and took me a week  and a whole bottle of  kh7 to clean the viscous putty-like gunk.

as a side note: do not go near sunflower oil, that thing is mean.

i can only wonder what it does to your arteries after being submitted to high temps.

what i learned from this vat:
soda ash has a shelf life so does hydrosulphite.
i bought new hydros and using less i got a good reduction.
instead of measuring and converting and dealing with all the involved math i  figured that if it worked for fermentation vats why not use the 1-2-3 recipe. it worked extremely well once i replaced the old chemicals.i also switched to slaked lime instead of soda ash.not a very scientific move as i now have added another variable to control.
anyhow it worked very well and next morning it was still in shape,no need to sharpen it.
i am also noticing a variant in color and i suspect it is due to temperature in the low 30'sC.
will keep an eye on that and report. the problem -i'm old fashioned, still have problems-that needs to be tackled is warming the vat which is outside.





one of the results. remember them? they came out pretty well, the patchy color on the left leg will come out after rinsing.
you poor readers will be hearing about the ai  adventures all week long. you have been warned.

neki desu

 

there are things to be seen

NeuroKnitting from varvara on Vimeo.

 stay cool and have a good weekend.



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will printing happen any time soon?

the screens are ready,actually have been ready for a week now.but the studio is so hot i don't have what it takes to get in and start printing

it's so hot and humid that the gaffer tape is buckling and unsticking. meanwhile i'm sticking to the air as i move





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