wake robin, and the power of paper textiles

velma bolyard is textile artist and bookbinder. she spins paper, along side many other wonderful and creative projects.
i saw her work via an article in handeye magazine, which is in itself an amazing publication, dedicated to the empowering role of craft and the handmade as well as design as development.

in the article, velma explains how one of her works, a handmade book, is being used by a therapist, and how people connect with the book. it's an incredibly touching story about the power of a handmade object. also it makes me cry everytime i read it. velma's paper mill is called wake robin, which is also the name of her blog. good stuff.

renegade roundup: textiles and fiber

first up, the work of k studio, above. beautiful spare line drawings on pillows. you can even customize your own family pillow by choosing from their selection of people and pets (scroll down from the options page.

original handmade bags from nam kim (ab0ve).

super soft and stretchy clothing from jo clothing.

custom made uk makes lots of adorableness, like the owl pouch above.

five trees creates all sorts of critters and monsters.

and fiber! this yarn is spun and dyed by vera videnovich. vera is a farmer, knitter, spinner, and fiber arts instructor in the chicago area. i remember seeing her spinning at renegade chicago 2 years ago before i got my wheel, and it was nice to see her again.
more handspun by betsy ply
and traveling rhinos who carries all sorts of goodness in the shop.

my lulu

finally, a photo of lulu, my wheel! japan is really really hot...last week we had the hottest day on record, beating the record set 73 years ago. so, it's a little hot for spinning. but lulu and i will have a great fall and winter, i am sure.

my first yarn

oh my goodness, i love spinning. so. much. and i love lulu, my wheel!

i have a spinning wheel!

my wonderful new spinning wheel arrived last week! and she is just as beautiful as i expected. it's a louet victoria, which i decided i needed (ha ha) several months ago. the design of this wheel is just really really nice; very small, compact, foldable and good for traveling, which i seem to do a lot of.
i don't have any pictures of my wheel yet, but you can get an idea from this one.
as an abject beginner, i was able to get it set up and start spinning, after some early confusion about the scotch tension. (um, yeah, so the wire with the spring on it has to go over the bobbin.) not rocket science, but i was pretty sure i was going to have to wait for my crafty friend to get back in town to show me.
tonight i spun and plied a skein, and then spun what i think might be the upper bulky limit. even though it's all hot all the time in japan, i still want to spin. yup, another obsession-inducing craft? sounds perfect! i decided to name her lulu.
if you want your own, i think wendy over at lanas de lebelula is swell and can hook you up.

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.

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!

spinning wheel obsession

the woolery now has the above image on their site, a comparison of 4 folding wheels on the market. the little one on the right is the louet victoria, also known as the object of my desire! isn't it adorable? i think i want this wheel. i know, i know, i should learn to spin first, and i should try out different wheels...my first spinning class isn't for another 3 weeks, good thing i am taking a trip in the meantime to keep myself distracted. but in japan, the only wheel i know for sure i can get here is the ashford joy (far left). oh, what to do. i'm going to try to be patient. i've read some great reviews of the victoria. the only thing i wonder about is the ability to spin bulky yarns (what's the difference between bulky and novelty? before i pretty much gave up knitting for felting i loved to knit with bulky yarn, so i would imagine i might want to spin them too). is any input is welcome!

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.