harvesting time

this summer crop: all shades of blue and then some more that didn't get to the photo call.

still waiting to call aizome done. if it keeps warm and doesn't rain maybe i can get one more week's worth of dyeing.

it has taken many, many summers to get to the stage i am in now but, i feel that finally oh finally i am in command of the vat, not the other way around. i have even started to push it as when i scraped the bottom of last year's vat to use the solidified indigo. talk about 勿体無い    mottainai!

on the mottainai subject i am piecing together all those ai dyed samples and making a cover. the center is already pieced and the sides are slowly growing.

neki desu
 

of color lakes and inks

michel garcia and natural dyes.
have a good weekend!



neki desu
 

in the loop

aka biting the dust.the two machine knitting gurus are in pinterest. their boards are encyclopedic and i used to get lots of information from them. as of this week you need to have a pinterest account to see the whole board. even if your're following their links. i have no intention whatsoever of pinning anything or anyone, i just want to see their boards. therefore i'm playing pinterest's passive aggressive game; i signed up because i was forced to, but from me they'll get NADA.

neki desu

what if? what if?

i keep it to the minimum?

if i add puff paint?

if i create a white cluster with a wing needle to support the black mass?

then fill the empty space with more texture?

what iffing while the soy priming cures.

neki desu

processing

the scarf was unwound, didn't want to try my luck. and there's going to be bad weather for the rest of the week;that means no vat until it clears.

the cochineal has lost some punch during the aizome so it needs further processing. here  it has been primed with soy milk which will be left to cure for a couple of days at least. then the cochineal parts will be painted over with cochineal ink. stay tuned.

neki desu

not only this

but i am also going to have wonderful cotton thread for stitching! even the polyester-shudder, shudder- rag at the bottom has dyed well.

the vat is going so very well that i am tempted to keep dipping this.better not tempt fortune, judicious me says.

i am working on two cotton gauze items to be dyed soon. life is good.

neki desu

nation keepers

shinjuku 7:30 a.m
 last august weekend! enjoy

neki desu