yuuco's tekuteku diary

So October is upon us and November is just a few days away. The sun ray is softer, weather is mild, it's the best season for creating and learning! I already have some on my to-do-list. For examlpe, reading, drawing, practice English, hang out to take photos, go to see arts to the islands of Seto Inland Sea... mmm so(too?) many anyway! My friend, who is a traditional craft artist and well know about me(like this) invited me to her job site of indigo dye on the other day.



She is an artisan of Sanuki Kagari Temari as I wrote before, and dyes all the threads herself with natural materials. This time she tried Japanese traditional indigo dye called "Ai-zome 藍染" at a special studio for that.　Ai-zome is one of very popular ways of Japanese traditional dying. Tokushima prefecture where is next to Kagawa is famouse for that. The blue made by indigo dye called "Japan blue" is just brilliant, the colour is clear, deep, yet really soft. There is no wonder that Japan blue attracts so many people since days of the past.

At first, put the thread into the dye and move it evenly for about 3 mins in order to it will be well-stained.






Next, rinse it very well through the water.



And dry it. It may seem very simple but actually the whole process is quite a big job.



This is silk. How beautiful!




Once your fingers caught the dye, it's very hard to remove it at least for one week.




"Ai 藍" is a kind of plants and they plant it on their own field. Now you can see the cute pink flowers in this season.







This studio is in a facility for the mentally retarded called "Moegi no Sato もえぎの里" in Mure town, Takamatsu. If you are interested you can experience it here, so why don't you try it, there is no time to waste in this great season! Map is here.