MG: incomplete

the floppy neck of this sweater desperately needs its buttons, but i've already stolen quite a few warm wears of it. not sure what kind of buttons, nor how the buttons will finish the sweater. i'm feeling reluctant about the finality of completing this sweater... its proportions are just a bit off; something is not quite right. it's somehow not living up to the potential i imagined. it's squooshy and comfortable and warm; it has a cable and a large swath of fabric at the neck; it's yellow. but still somehow not quite right.

MG: back on the wheel

beautifully prepped Abby Batt

getting to know my Lendrum fast flyer. the singles kept snapping, breaking against the metal edge of the orifice on the bobbin side; so i got out one of the nicest preps i have in my stash to practice. finally catching the rhythm, tension, and pull of the fast flyer. 17:1 is much nicer for finer spinning. i can treadle languidly again.

20-odd grams of singles

kitty: second annual homespun party - Savage, MD

	EXTRA EXTRA... READ ALL ABOUT IT... Be sure to mark your calendars if you are going to be in Maryland on March 15th the Second Annual Homespun Party is about to take place. :) Where:Historic Savage Mill |8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763 | Just off I-95, plenty of parking! When: Sunday, March 15, 2009 - 12 PM to 4 PM (watch the blog - hours may be extended)
Vendors * 8th Street Soap * Alpacas of Windswept Farm * Blue Ribbon Accoyo Alpacas * Brookmere Alpacas * CatJu Designs * Cedar Land Farm * Cedar Wool Farm * Cosyknits * Craftgasm * Crash Into Ewe * Dancing Leaf Farm * Dragonfly Fibers * Feederbrook Farm * Folktale Fibers * Knitting Gnome * Loop * Neighborhood Fiber Co. * Pocket Meadow Farm * Potosi Farm * Rock Creek Yarn * Sanguine Gryphon * Serendipitous Ewe * Sheila Rovelstad Designs * Spirit Trail Fibers * Three Irish Girls * Treadle to the Metal * Wild Hare Fibers * Woolarina Vendors without websites * Mid Valley Fibers * Kozy Kitty Bags
Sadly I am not going, but Knit and Play with Fire asked me to post a little notice about the Homespun Party. She has been working really hard on helping the organization.

kitty: ashes and snow

Ashes and Snow Mexico Monk With Wings

There are times when photos just move you... Touch a place in your heart and you crave to see more... This is one of those times for me. I was reading the blog desire to inspire and they had posted images of designs by Laurent Bourgois. There was one photo of a bedroom where this boy was framed above the futons that I aimed MG. She was sweet enough to track down the photographer, Gregory Colbert. (thanks MG) To see more of his work, ashes and snow His books of catalogues are available through his site and also on amazon. Guess you really can find just about anyting on amazon. Though I think I will buy one from his site.

kitty: I love haberdashery

Bargain random square set of buttons....10 sew on buttons

My order of Laura Walker buttons just arrived and I couldn't be happier. They are absolutely beautiful and far exceeded my expectations. Laura Walker Flickr - Veronicabuttons's on Etsy

frany button with 2 pot holes in tea and jade blue

6 sweet lace print kelly pea buttons in chocolate

kitty: happy belated valentines day

Hope you and your families had a wonderful Valentines Day!

kitty: happy hari-kuyo (memorial service for used pins & needles)

	Happy Hari-kuyo (Memorial Service for Used Pins)!!!! Thanks Knitgrrl, for posting about this celebration. To be honest I had no idea that there was a Buddhist and Shinto Festival of Broken Needles in Japan. So I quickly did a google and read as much info as I could before calling a dear friend to find out more information, thanks A. Today is a day of respect for the tools of the sewing trade. It is a 400 year old tradition where historically a tofu paste would be made in the temple and the broken needles would be placed into it before they were taken to there place of rest. I am so happy to hear that this festival exist, but more over that there is a day to lay respect to the tools of the trade. A day to thank them for helping the artisan / crafter / weavers / tailors / seamstresses / even Fashion Students for the hard work the tools have done. Also a day where secretes that were put into the pins could be revealed to the gods. This is a day to take off from your needlework project to lay respect and gratitude.
Additional information: History and Observance Flickr photo A virtual Harkuyo celebration History of the celebration (JP) Adorable photo
What I find really interesting is that this day marks the end of the Chinese New Years celebration. Where historically you would not have done any household chores or even taken out your trash for 15 days. It was believed that doing so would show that your year to come would be full of waste and bad luck. The end of New Year also marks the day when the real work for the new year was about to start. Sadly it looks like I am out of tofu and with the deadline today I doubt I will make it to the store. I did run downstairs and burned some incense to thank my needles for there help in achieving my goals.
updated the goddess of needlecraft, arts, creativity JP: "Wakahiru, the Japanese goddess of weaving, takes a much deserved break from her toils today to enjoy the beauty of handcrafted items, and she suggest you do likewise. Legend has it that she is also the dawn goddess - a suitable job for the younger sister of Amaterasu (the sun goddess), who favored Wakahiry because of her excellent weaving skills. When Wakahiur died, Amaterasu refused to shine until lured out of her hiding place by the invention of mirrors. To Do today: Find a pocket swing kit and use it as a Wakahiru charm for creativity. Energize the charm of leaving it in the light of dawn saying, With inventiveness fill, by your power and my will."said Patricia Telesco from 365 Goddess. The goddess of weaving for Chinese, Zhi Nu: Zhi Nu the goddess from the Seven Sisters Festival or Chinese Valentines day. But Remember No NEEDLEWORK is done today. Clean your tools and thank them.

kitty: spinning eye candy

	Merry Meadows Farm - Web Site Just some spinning eye candy... I picked up 10oz of this roving from "Dove" a super soft little ewe. It has been absolutely devine to spin. I have been able to do 4 oz a night. Very little VM and no felty bits. What a wonderful change from what I have been spinning lately. I am in love, beautiful quality roving. I will definately buy from them again.

kitty: happy days, happy days

I have utterly been dancing around the office ever since the mail arrived. I have even been singing Happy Days (通常盤) by 大塚愛 all afternoon. M thinks I have totally lost my mind, but I don't care. I won the bid on Ebay for this absolutely wonderful Millinery Head Form (1950's) with post and clamp. $15.00. You don't know how much I have wanted one of these for the last 19 years, but I also didn't want to spend an arm and a leg. 6 months ago these were going for a couple of hundred dollars, if you could find one. Just signs yet again of the sad economy.

kitty: Kimono: The 20th- Century Masterworks of Itchiku Kubota - Canton, OH: Feb 8 - April 26, 2009 (Canton Museum of Art)

Clip posted on youtube by ArtsinStark.
	In 1995, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum broke a long standing rule to not host exhibitions of living artist to present the works ok Itchiku Kubota. This was a controversial decision at the time, until museum visitors saw the beauty of nature captured in the 20th Century Kimono. I was lucky enough to get to see his works back in 1995. I remember just standing in awe with each step I took. The colours, textures, techniques just came to life with each step you took during the exhibit. On the off chance while looking for someplace to go on a field trip on Saturday to take photos, I discovered that 40 of his kimonos are in the United States again. Kimono: The 20th- Century Masterworks of Itchiku Kubota San Diego, CA: Nov 1, 2008 - Jan 25, 2009. (Timken Museum/San Diego Museum of Art) Canton, OH: Feb 8 - April 26, 2009 (Canton Museum of Art) It is well worth the trip if you find yourself anywhere near Canton, OH to see his works. Itchiku Kubota is a true master. He left school at the age of 14 and started to study the art of dyeing. "When he was 20 years old, he encountered an old silk textile in the Tokyo National Museum. He was fascinated by its extraordinary beauty, design complexity and saturated colors. Frozen in place, Kubota studied it for three hours. "In a sudden moment,” he said, “I encountered a source of boundless creativity which revealed to me my calling." The remnant before him was a rare example of the lost art of Tsujigahana (Tsu-jee-ga-ha-na), which made use of a simple, subtle dye technique that had been lost over the centuries. Kubota promised himself that he would rediscover its secret." ArtsinStark And he did accomplished his goal unlocking the secrete. If you get a chance it is defiantly worth the trip. I hope to go in the next couple of weeks. And if you go before March 1, 2009 you could also stop by the Kent State University Museum for the Japanese Obi Exhibition in the Blum Gallery.
Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota (Hardcover) by Dale Carolyn Gluckman (Author), Hollis Goodall (Author)
Itchiku Tsujigahana - Homage to Nature: Landscape Kimonos (June 1995 - April 1996) (Paperback)
Kimono: The 20th- Century Masterworks of Itchiku Kubota - Exhibition Links
Additional Links of Interest: Itchiku Kubota - Wiki Link San Diego Museum - Kimon as Art Slow Painting Blog Post - Click Here Smithsonian Magazine Dec 1995 Smithsonian.com - Itchiku Kubota's fascination with an ancient textile art Photos of his museum - click here
Photo from the collection and cooperation with ArtsinStark.

kitty: Arimatsu-Narumi Shibori: Celebrating 400 Years of Japanese Artisan Design DVD

	To me there are few things as magical as Shibori. Tieing amazingly small knots all over yards and yards of white fabric that are then thrown into a pool of indigo dye. A project that could involve an entire community working on a different aspect of a project. The time and the art. Over the years I have certainly tried several of the different techniques. Frankly anyone who has tie-dyed has, but I always have the fear of throwing it in the dye. What if my knots were not tight enough, what if I screwed up and the dots didn't fade. Though this summer I am going to give it another go when the weather improves. MG want to come over and play? There are so many aspects of Japanese textiles and crafts that fascinate me. I don't know how many times I have watched this DVD since it first came out. It takes you through a brief history of Shibori and then an overview of the different types of both hand and machine knot tieing. Watching the artisans are truly inspirational in this DVD.
Arimatsu-Narumi Shibori: Celebrating 400 Years of Japanese Artisan Design (Japanese / English Language Version) Starring: Hiroshi Murase, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada Director: Andrew Galli Format: DVD Language: English / Japanese

kitty: habu kit-6 poly tobi scarf

	It is no secrete that I am obsessed with habu kits. When this one came up on ebay I decided to place a low bid just to try it. I figured it would work for a gift for someone at some point. I was kind of surprised that I picked it up for $3.50. It is a simple crochet project that can be done in a night. The A-29 is hard to pull through the loops when you go to add on the next strip. So there are a few loops that I am not happy with, but there is no ripping out without major shedding. On a side note: I just read on the Habu website that there prices are going up at the end of the month due to the exchange rate. So if you had been waiting time to go ahead and purchase it at a cheaper price.
Habu item #: Kit-6 poly tobi scarf content: colors of A-29 - 9 Green colors of A-27 - 7 Black price: $3.50 Manufacturer: Habu Textiles

kitty: tired of dye transfer

(I was spinning Violet Roving from SlowColor, amazing colour, though sadly not on my hands. I tested the red as well with no problems.)

In the last couple of weeks my hands have been bright green for days and now violet purple. I am getting pretty tired of dye transfer. Even to the point I thought it might be me and my body chemistry reacting oddly. I had someone else test and purple finger resulted.

kitty: testing Tvåändsstickning / Twined Knitting and Brioche Stripes

Tvåändsstickning / Twined Knitting and Brioche Stripes - larger size photo

Some actual knitting content... Since I have been spinning so much lately I have really been trying to evaluate what kind of hands puns I really like to knit with. Here is a swatch that I was testing burl spun yarns and Tvåändsstickning / Twined Knitting and Brioche Stripes. The very cool thing is the other side appears to be just vertical stripes.

kitty: a light spot for what is sure to be a long week

Pacific Island Water Garden - Franklin Park Conservatory other photos