Justin and Noriko came and helped out last moth. Thank you to all the helpers.
Living in a small mountain village just outside of Tokyo, I grow a crop of indigo every year and process the leaves into dye using traditional methods. I also breed silk moths, raise the silkworms and then reel/spin the silk from the cocoons. The silk is then dyed with natural dyes and finally woven on traditional Japanese looms. I run several ten-day live-in workshops a year at the old farmhouse here in Japan focusing on the Japanese use of indigo. Contact me for information.
Monday 26 November 2012
Indigo Knit Studio Open
Driving back and forth to Hon Atsugi over the past year and slowly tearing down and rebuilding the old place, gnome-like in a dark cave, suddenly seemed worthwhile this weekend as the knit machine started to humm and buzz and to well.....knit The studio looks somewhat magical and creative energy is ready to burst forth. There will be four of us for the time being. Daphne, Liza, Kurihara san and myself. I am being cautious at first. Not wanting to force anything to germinate that isn't organic and healthy. The original footing is important. I am excited about the possibilities of making some cool clothes from natural dyed silk, cotton, linen and wool knitted on our mid-50's knitters. My three partners are all gung-ho as well. Learning how to work these babies. The samples we made yesterday were great.
i can feel the excitement over here. がんばって!!
ReplyDeleteHi Neki,
ReplyDeleteDaphne wrote me this morning and said she almost vomited she was so excited about making knits on these machines. Now that is excited
How fun! I can't wait to see the indigo knits!!
ReplyDeletewishing all of you best wishes for future growth and learning. wish I was there to share the excitement.
ReplyDeleteoh my god oh my god, i'm excited and it's past my bedtime! wow! this is great, bryan, and so worth your effort. how wild these machines are, and nifty, too.
ReplyDeleteI am there tomorrow to experiment all day with different threads. It is just soooo much fun. My face hurts from all the excitement.
Deletelooks like so much fun! wish i could be there!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on this adventure, everybody seems so happy!
ReplyDeleteMay I be your agent in Italy?
Blandina san. YES. Oh la la.. the silk persimmon dyed silk knits with indigo peeking through. You will love them. Pictures to come soon.
ReplyDelete