Indigo Summer!

What Summer brings to Temaricious is fresh indigo dyeing work. 

Japanese indigo (TADE AI) seeds are born in the small Tokyo garden last year and brought to Tochigi farm in Spring and then look at this amazing indigo field in July:-)) 
Thank you for Mr. I. He has indigo fingers definitely!

Our indigo dyeing day was busy!

Cut indigo from the field and pick fresh leaves only. Then chop indigo leaves into small pieces (mixer can help you), then squeeze indigo juice out for a while. When green indigo smoothie is ready, you put wet raw threads into it. Then stir threads in it and wait for a while. Then wash threads with fresh water and then green threads change into bluuuuueee!! As you swing it in a circle in the air many times, threads become blue. It's a speechless experience to see this colour change. It must be a chemical reaction but for me it is just a magic of nature....

We see the blue part from the green leaves when indigo leaves are damaged or eaten and rain sometimes makes blue water drops on the leaves. It's such a mysterious scenery to watch. 

Indigo loves water when they are growing. Japanese rainy season in June is really for indigo not for busy Tokyo people otherwise! 

This indigo blue like a summer sky and water fascinates you soon!!

Enjoy your summer! 

Don't forget to join our workshop:-) 

Chop Chop

Green Smoothie and threads

Magic: Green to Blue

Swing in the air

Summer gift from Indigo

✌️ YES

Waiting for seeing you

Workshops!

Good day to all! 
Tokyo is having a rainy season now. How is your place?

Good news first and no bad news last: Temaricious workshops will be held in London, Berlin, and Prague in September. We are already excited to see you there! 

For details of the workshop, please call or email to the shops!!  
Everyone is welcome! No worry, just come:-) 
See you there!

I will post soon how we are preparing for the workshops! 


☆Berlin☆
06/September (Sat)  --- WOLLEN

WOLLEN (sweet yarn shop in Berlin)
www.wollen-berlin.de/workshops/temari


☆Prague☆
08/September (Mon) --- CJA

Czech Japanese Association 
(Anybody can join!)
www.japan.cz

☆London☆
16/September (Sat)  --- LOOP
17/September (Sun) --- LOOP

LOOP (lovely yarn sanctuary)
www.loopknitting.com/classes/temari_workshop.html

Wish You...

Temaricious at LOOP, LONDON

My first experience of LOOP was in 2007. This adorable yarn shop is literally a sanctuary for knitters. Full of soft colourful yarns, lots of inspiration in the shop.  I simply spent so much time walking  around and around in the shop.  After I bought a skein of orange yarns with bubbles from South Africa,  I kept the bubbly dream to deal with LOOP somehow in the future. 

And years later, my dream came true.

Temaricious natural hand-dyed threads are now available at LOOP! There is no other place to  buy Temaricious threads except LOOP. 

Happy Temaricous Day!

And thank you, LOOP!



Shop information:
LOOP
15 Camden Passage
Islington, London
N1 8EA
TEL: +44 (0)20 7288 1160
Nearest Tube: ANGEL
http://www.loopknitting.com/index.html


Online shopping:
http://www.loopknittingshop.com/category/518/Temaricious

Greeting from Tokyo!!

Long time no see, everyone! Tokyo is enjoying fallen leaves, colourful leaves on the street with sky blue. People started wearing thick coats and warps on neck. People somehow start wearing dark colour stuff. On the other hand, town gets red and green for Christmas countdown. Okay, here, two photos for you. Take care of yourself, don't catch a cold,which I got it from my sons.

TEA FOR YOU

TEMARI: Flower Basket

Item #1) 
Tea cup with saucer and sugar basin, part of a tea set, stoneware, marked "Ditmar Urbach T Made in Czechoslovakia" (Trnovany u Teplic, western Czechoslovakia, design c. 1930). Nearly perfect functionalism, strictly geometric form is complemented with decorative fixtures (sugar basin). 

ROKOKO RED

TEMARI: Chrysanthemum & Four-Leaf Clover

Item #2) 
Bowl on a stand, sweets bowl, sugar basin, clear glass, hand cut, ruby glazed, hand made gold plating, Bohemia, Austria Hungary, c. 1840, glass in the Biedermaier style (1815-1850), gold platet decor in "second" or "revival" Rokoko style (1830-1865).

Big appreciation to Antique Collector: Martin Stein, Prague

梅雨の間のお仕事 Happy Jobs during Rainy Season

みなさま、いかがお過ごしでしょうか？日本はあっという間に梅雨入り。嫌な季節となりがちですが、私にとって梅雨にはたくさんの楽しみもあります。

How have you been enjoying June? It's already rainy season officially in Tokyo. Usually hate rain though, there are a lot of happy jobs during a rainy season!



梅雨の合間の晴れの日に藍の生葉染め用の綿糸の精錬や豆汁処理をしたり、水が大好きな藍の成長を見守ったり、手まりの中にいれるラベンダーを収穫したり。手まりには関係ないですが、何より私の大好物、家族の大好物の梅シロップを仕込んだりと大忙しです。

Washing & putting soy milk cotton threads as a colour-fixatives for fresh-leave indigo dyeing, keep watching Japanese indigo which loves water a lot, harvesting lavenders from the garden for temari, and it's not really connection with temari though, I was busy for making UME syrup:-)which is my & my family's favourite!

washed cotton threads

grown up quickly!

home-made lavenders 

  

two weeks to wait

Fresh UME

梅雨の雨音でも楽しみながら、忙しい夏までゆっくりいきますか。梅雨ですが週末はピクニック日和の日もあり、蚊の多くない今しかできないことたくさんしなくちゃね！

Let's enjoy slow life with nice sound of rain outside. I need to do a lot of picnics before evil mosquitos will come out!

みなさまも素敵な六月をお過ごしください。

Wish you a lovely June there!

藍の生葉染め Fresh-Leaf Indigo Dyeing

藍の生葉染めに今年は挑戦しようと藍の成長を見守ってます。
ただいまこんな感じです。間引きをしてあげないといけませんね。

I'll try fresh-leaf Indigo dyeing this year for the first time. I planted in Mach and then now,  look at nice fresh leaves:-) I need to move some to another container soon.

タデ藍　Japanese Indigo

きっと６月からもう染色ができると思います。生葉をとってミキサーにかけ染色していきます。

Perhaps, I can start dyeing from June here in Tokyo. Pick leaves and put them to mixer and then dye cotton threads with it. Indigo grows quickly so I suppose that I can repeat dyeing several times this season. Then, keep seeds for the next year.


生葉染の色はこんな柔らかな空色です。この手まりの土台のまりの色が生葉染めの色。葉を取るだけなのでまた新しい葉がでてきて何回か染色ができるそうです。そして最後は大切に種を取って来年のお楽しみにします。

Colour of fresh-leaf Indigo dyeing is like a colour of sky. You can see it in the picture. This temari's base colour is the colour of fresh-leaf indigo!

そうそう、この手まりは赤ちゃん(boy!)が産まれたお友だちへのお祝いとしてつくりました。パターンは私の大好きな麻の葉。ちょうど赤ちゃんが産まれたころに咲いたタンポポの色を頂いた色のかがり糸をあしらいました。タンポポの黄色は鉄クズと酢で作った媒染液につけたら、明るいグレーになり、藍色ととても良く合いました。


 By the way, I made this temari for a baby-boy present. This ASANOHA pattern is my favourite. I used threads dyed with dandelions when the baby was about coming out to our world! I used irons and vinegar for mordanting and dandelion yellow turned to a bright grey and it really goes well with Japanese Indigo blue.

麻の葉かがりは昔から産着に母親が産まれてくる子の成長を願い刺繍したものでした。麻はすくすくと真っすぐに伸びることから赤ちゃんの成長を願う意味があります。それと麻の香りは虫除けとしても用いられており、赤ちゃんへの災いを防ぐというお守りの意味が込められています。私もそんな願いを込めながらチクチクかがりました。麻の葉についてはまた別の機会にお話したいと思います。とっても素敵な模様ですから。

ASANOHA(hemp leaves) pattern is embroidered to clothes by mothers for new born babies during maternity time. Hemp leaves grow straight and fast and their aroma is used as anti-bugs. Japanese use this symbol as a charm against evil. I stitched this temari, wishing a boy's healthy and happy life. I will post more about ASANOHA pattern later because this pattern is very unique and one of my favourites!


因みに手まりを置いているトレイはQubusのチェコ共和国というトレイです。チェコラブですから、私。これからちょくちょく登場すると思います、このトレイ。ではこの新緑まぶしい季節を楽しみましょう〜。

If someone has an interest in the tray in the picture, yes, it's from Qubus's Czech Republic with blue onions. I love Czech Republic:-) 

Let's enjoy this shining fresh-leave season now! Have a nice day!