Yabane

YABANE SCARF 矢羽 ya (arrow) hane->bane (feather) (jap.) - “fletchings, feathers of the arrow”

'Shaping of this scarf is inspired by the feathers of Hamaya - a “demon-breaking arrow”, a decorative arrow sold at shrines at New Year’s to ward off misfortune and to attract good luck. Pleated look of the scarf is actually based on Miura-ori style of origami that folds into a neat compact shape and opens into multi-dimensional textured accessory.'
quoted from Olga Buraya-Kefelian.

I met Olga on Skype through Sooz one day and she showed us her design of the Yabane scarf. I loved it and offered to test knit it for her. My most sincere apology as it is embarrassing to say that it had taken months for me to finish this project, despite the fact that it is a really simple pattern to knit. I have to admit that I am really SLOW knitter and always get stuck at the weaving in ends stage........However, the knitting part is completed, ends woven in and the piece blocked. Now I just have to wait till the weather turns cold to wear it.
I love the three-dimensional aspect of the structure and the simplicity of the design.

There was also the folded shibori/origami pattern that I came across at the workshop with Yoshiko Wada.

This book is also quite interesting. I have not tried anything from it yet, if only there are more hours in the day..........

What's more, it also reminded me of the 2-dimensional woven pattern that we  saw at the Nishijin Textile center. 

There was a display showing samples of the finished cloths.

woven samples

warp threads being prepared for dyeing

dyed warps

the 'warp shifting box'
warp threads being 'shifted' to create the arrow pattern

before

after

The pattern in the warp ready for putting onto the loom.
You can see some sort of bamboo reed to keep all the threads in place.

It is interesting to see how the pattern is formed to such precision.

Inspired by Kiyomizu Dera

When Meg organised the last Pics to Picks, these are a couple of the photos I had sent to Alienore.

I had mentioned that I have also used them as inspirations for previous projects. I was hoping that she would pick one of these as I am interested to see what other people would design with the same images.

I am always amazed, that at school when a group of us is given the same brief, how different approaches are taken and the variety of outcome.......

It is interesting to look back at the photos and still feel happy with the results. These pieces were woven in 2007 on my Ashford 8-shaft table loom - my very first loom!

As I no longer have the scarves, it is nice to have the images and the notes on them.

These are photos taken at Kiyomizu Dera  (清水寺) in Kyoto:

Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers.

Results: 8-shaft honey comb with wool and soy silk tape. 

The tall pillars supporting the large veranda of the main hall.

I manipulated the image in photoshop with the various filters:

Results: 8-shaft twill with wool.

Both drafts are from 'a weaver's book of 8-shaft patterns' edited by Carol Strickler.

Ginkgo O Ginkgo

The Ginkgo (銀杏) is one of my favourite trees and I wish that I could have one in my garden. However, I am a brown thumb and the only things that tend to grow in my garden are the undesirables termed as 'weeds'.
It is close to a year since I was last in Japan, there the Ginkgo trees are found in lots of places, as street trees where they are young, contained, pruned and grow quite straight.

In temple grounds where they are ancient specimens,  propped up, fenced off and protected.

 I love the fan shaped leaves and the colours as they turn in Autumn.

I love how easy it is to use it as a motif in design.

There is this talented textile print studio, Ink and Spindle in Melbourne that has translated this motif so well...... 

I have been making cushions out of their 'ginkgo' range, some for presents for friends living overseas and one for myself to keep! I have inserted invisible zips in the seam and sewed up the corners to create the box shape. Easy!

Help Japan

A lot has happened in the last month and at times, I find it hard to comprehend. I am glad to hear that my friends in affected places are safe and ok, both in flood and earthquake areas.

I can no longer just sit there and watch the news. I need to do something and would really like to be able to donate LOTS of money but that is a bit beyond my means at present.

However, I have yarn.
I have decided to put up 2 cones of wool/stainless steel yarn for giveaway. They were bought from Avril when I was visiting Japan.

Cone 1:
Avril M3500 wool/stainless steel, colour #75 purple, approx 60g (2 oz)

Cone 2:
Avril M3500 wool/stainless steel, colour #2997 kogecha (dark brown), approx 60g (2 oz)

This is the same as:
Habu wool/stainless steel yarn item #: A-148 1/17.6 wool stainless steel
Content: 75% wool, 25% stainless stteel
Yardage: approx. 547 yds. (492 mts.)/oz. (28 gm.)
Retail price: US$19.80/oz.
Weight: lace/weaving
Suggested epi for weaving: 20-30
Suggested needle size for knitting: US no. 2-3 for single strand, no. 10 & up for 2 strands

How to enter the giveaway:
•Each entry is for one cone. So there will be 2 winners.
•This is open to everyone worldwide.
•I will cover postage cost to you.
•To enter you must donate A$5 directly to the Red Cross Japan and Pacific Disaster Appeal 2011.
•You may enter as many times as you like but each entry/donation must have a new separate receipt number. (eg: donate A$5 ten times if you want to donate A$50- then comment ten times with your receipt numbers.)
After you have done this, return here, leave your comment with your receipt number and whether you prefer Cone 1 or 2. And make sure you include your email address so that I can contact you if you are the lucky recipient.
•This will start immediately and closes 6pm AEST, 26th March 2011.
•The giveaway is being held on this blog, in cooperation with a Bit of This and a Bit of That. A masterlist of other participants is there and will be updated.
•Winner will be drawn by random. If you are the winner, I will email you for proof of donation and then send you the cone of yarn.

Rooftop Cowl

A photo of one of the rooftops at Nijo Castle in Kyoto. I originally took the photo as inspiration for a weave pattern. I can see it so clearly as a weave.

However, since being home, I started to knit the 'alexandria cowl'. It is a gift to a friend in Japan and hopefully she will get it in time for their cold winter. As I knitted, I kept seeing the image of the rooftop in my mind, especially in this colour.

I love the texture, the contrast of thick and thin creating these ridges.

I have knitted this before and had also given it away. I think I will end up knitting it a third time (and hopefully the last time, for myself).

In the meantime, this edition has been re-named the 'rooftop cowl'.

Tools of the trade: I

I love tools - tools for making things. Tools for cooking, for knitting, for weaving, and even tools just for admiration as they are so beautiful.

Japan is a great place for tools. Fortunate or not, there is a limit on luggage allowance so there is also a limit on how many different tools I could buy.

A few years ago, I visited  the Inagaki Kiryou manual weaving supplies shop. It was established in 1897, on the outskirts of Kyoto in the Nishijin area. I did not have my camera with me. I told all my weaving friends about this place but I felt that my words can not truly describe it properly nor could they describe how I felt when I was there.

They are traditional tools, beautifully made and functional. The owner has limited English. Between that and my knowledge of Kanjii, a bit of sign language, it was enough for us to communicate and to explain what the different things are used for.
(On their website, they do recommend that you have a translator with you as they are not fluent in English.)
He brought out all the selections. When we have picked a shuttle, he brought out all that he had so we could choose the which one we wanted as they all had individual wood grains and colours. The shuttles were made of oak. We could get bamboo or timber bobbins to use with them. (My swedish cardboard bobbins also fit with some of these shuttles.)

There were a lot of things that looked familiar but also a lot that were ( I think) peculiar to Japanese weaving!?

We saw those ceramic weights that I found in Melbourne, and found out what their use is.

They are added to the swift to slow down the speed!
In the ceiling, there were all these old tools hanging there. They have all acquired that mature timber patina and gave the shop this amazing atmoshpere. There were bobbins, shuttles, old bamboo reeds, etc.

One of the really sad things was that as the tool makers retire, unless there is a new generation to take over, there won't be anymore supplies. This is the case for some of his beautiful timber tapestry beaters.

So if you are in Kyoto and you are a weaver, this should definitely be on your itinerary. However, if you can not get there, they have also developed a good website in English and it is worth a look.