shop update

my etsy shop now has hand felted merino naturally dyed baby booties in various colors (above, indigo)
and hand felted naturally dyed iphone sleeves too!

chicago

last week i was in chicago...
for the renegade craft fair (as seen advertised on this blue line train!)
felt cafe shared a booth with my dear friend angela of les glaneuses, gleaner and repurposer of jewels.
my handfelted merino, naturally dyed baby booties were the hit of the weekend. this one is dyed with indigo.

i love visiting chicago, and i love the renegade craft fair. unfortunately, we had the worst weather over the weekend. seriously, like the most rain the city has ever seen. which makes for a less-than-ideal outdoor market, as you might imagine. however, i have to say that all things considered, it was great. the folks that came out to shop were an excellent bunch–obviously very dedicated and super supportive. and on sunday it even stopped raining for the last few hours!

because of the rain, i didn't spend as much time checking out all the other venders as i would have liked, but i got a chance to chat with a lot of wonderful and supportive creative people, and it was great to see that even as renegade continues to grow, it still feels like an amazing community of independent crafters. i hope to share more info here about other crafty folks this week, after i unpack and sort through the cards i collected.
but i cant wait to post this mug (above) from circa ceramics. as i am busy today making lists of the million things i want to do and and drinking coffee (of course!!) i am loving this new mug more and more (and not just because it's filled with coffee). i've known about circa ceramics for quite a while, as they are a popular etsy seller, and use cool print gocco technology to print decals that go onto their ceramics. i love their bold retro designs and colors, and after meeting them in person i also have to say they are THE NICEST. you can get your own circa ceramics piece in their etsy store.

dying yarn

my first batch of indigo-dyed yarn. half of the yarn was heathery jacob to start with, and the other half was white merino, both of which i spun myself. i'm hooked, obviously.
indigo-dyed merino yarn
handspun natural merino dyed with madder.
finally up in my shop!

the miho museum and some natural dye

one the last places i managed to visit before i left japan back in march was the miho museum.
it was an interesting building in an amazing natural setting.

and they had some natural dyes (as well as a few other traditional crafts) displayed in the gift shop.
'dry indigo': the japanese says 'kansou aiba' which means, dried leaves of the 'ai' or japanese indigo (polygonum) plant.
'indigotin' (which i believe is actually what is found in all varieties of indigo): the japanese says 'sukumo,' which is actually the specific name for the 'ai' leaves that are fermented as part of the traditional japanese indigo dye process. more info here.

the top left is 'miscanthus tinctorius' or 'kari yasu' in japanese (a reed that produces a yellow dye). the top right is 'philodendron' or 'kihada' (the bark produces a yellow dye). the small cones in forefront are labled 'yasha' in japanese only...my best guess is that these are the alder cones used for brown dyes described here ...although there seems to be some discrepancy with the kanji used and the meanings of these characters.

a lot of this is my best (non-native-speaker) guessing. if you know more or better, please feel to share. mostly, i was impressed and delighted to find this sort of display, that included the dyestuff itself, the japanese name for it in both kanji and phonetic kana, and english!!

spring is in the air

as i am packing up my belongings, winter is definitely over. the plum trees have been blooming for a few weeks now, and then the peach trees, and if i am lucky, i might see a few cherry blossoms before i leave at the end of march.
last weekend i wound up near aizen kobo an indigo dye workshop/studio/store in an old townhouse in the nishijin textile area of kyoto.

it's very close to the nishijin textile center, if you are trying to find it you can ask here.

i've been meaning to check it out for a long time, and it's definitely worth it. i hope to take some friends to visit it in the next couple weeks, and actually try the dye process. the people who run it are great, very friendly, and enthusiastic about speaking english. the photo above is one of the lovely large tatami rooms where the indigo dyed products are displayed.

gobaishi

last month i went to another natural wool class at my favorite wool store in kyoto.
we dyed wool with gobaishi, a japanese gall that is created on japanese sumac (i think...it was a little complicated and hard to understand in japanese!!) with just alum and gobaishi, it didn't really change the color too much, but with iron, it turned a lovely heathery purple.
the gobaishi galls boiled for an hour in a mesh bag, they turned mushy
into the pot with iron added
the outcome.
if anybody out there knows more about gobaishi, i'd love to hear from you!

natural plant dying at ohara kobo, north of kyoto

this is the view of ohara kobo, a plant dye workshop in ohara, which is a small town an hour north of kyoto. i was really excited to try their dye course. we stayed overnight at a traditional japanese onsen ryokan, and went here on sunday morning. it was great. the guy spoke some english, and gave us lots of information (more so when we kept asking detailed questions!).

this is the view from their back porch, with dyed cotton hanging.
inside the shop/example area of the workshop, showing all the scarves and colors available.
in the dyeing shed, with the proprietor at the stove. he was a very entertaining fellow.

yarn dyed with loquat, or japanese medlar, or 'biwa' in japanese
madder plant (grown very very locally). in japanese 'akane'.
traditional cotton spinning wheel in use. they grow a small amount of their own cotton.

ohara (kyoto) japanese indigo dyeing

this is the japanese indigo plant, or polygonum. in japanese, it's called tadeai. ai is indigo as in 'aizome' means indigo dyeing.this is what it looks like dried. the leaves can be used directly to dye, but this is not really ever done. tadeai is fermented in a big bucket. it's really a huge bucket, the size of an oil drum.and goes into this vat, which is 1 meter deep.dyeing a silk scarf using oxidation to get a deeper color: one minute in the dye, one minute in the air. *repeat.*
silk scarf

dye!

my spinning and dyeing class last week was great! i love my wool store, and it was very cool to take a class there, in the same space they use for dyeing. here's the teacher, pouring out our wool dyed with marigolds. in the dyeing kitchen.
here's another student, in front of our washed, drying fleece.
i am not sure if i will be able to continue with these natural classes, as school starts again next week, but i am stoked to spin more!

batik

i'm been catching up since i returned from indonesia. here is a woman demonstrating traditional handmade javanese batik.
tomorrow is my spinning and dyeing class!! finally. i feel like a little kid waiting for christmas. i am very excited, if you can't tell!

a good day for crafts

the people who organize the handmade market at chion-ji temple that i've blogged about before, also are involved with another handmade market in kyoto, this one on the 1st thursday of every month, here. it's in a big park, which was nice and sunny today. by the time i found my way there, it was around 3:30 and everyone was packing up. but it looked great, very similar to the chion-ji market, with lots of traditional and contemporary crafts, from handmade lacquered bowls to linen slippers and everything in between. i will definitely check it out again, and if you do, i suggest you go in the morning!

it's walkable from the kyoto train station, 15 minutes due west.
when you get to this pedestrian overpass, you are half way there. take the stairs that veer to the right, and when you go down on the other side of the street, walk to right of the school and continue west.
here's a view from the inside of the kyoto train station, looking down on the mister donuts and cafe du monde open air food court. i was on my way up to the excellent tourist info center on the 9th floor. i was doing research about what kinds of traditional craft classes i can try out with my mom when she comes to visit in june. and there are tons! i'm very excited (and i hope mom is too) to try indigo dying, traditional weaving, and wax resist printing, just to name a few.
but...the best part of my day craftwise happened at the yarn shop, kin no hitsuji, which i've blogged about before too. since it takes over an hour for me to get to kyoto, it's kind of a far local yarn store, but they have great wool for felting and great books. after going there so many times i've lost count, they all know who i am, and i think i know all the people who work there too! i thought they might be a family (mom, dad, two grown daughters, and grandma) but i don't think that's actually the case. so today i finally bought a book for myself that i've been eyeing for months. it has some felt projects and some spinning and weaving. i can't read it (in japanese of course) but the most exciting part are the photos showing the natural dye process and the natural materials that the author goes out and gathers to dye wool. so when i was buying the book, i asked if they knew of any classes about natural dyes...and it turns out that they teach classes at the shop! so i signed up for a one day class in march that includes spinning, carding and dyeing (perhaps not in that order). oh boy. i was literally skipping down the street.
and then i discovered the muji in kyoto that has a muji restaurant, so i got to eat this lovely healthily meal.
then, i walked past this shop, sisam, which has fair trade products, including these cool felt cushions.