While most natural dyes react to iron exposure or submersion, at this point I had yet to try it with kakishibu. As one of my ongoing favorite “dyes,” I was happy to stumble upon this gradation of color just from modifying the pH. Oh chemistry, you never fail to surprise!
For the month of July, I’ve focused on doing several “fade” warps in which I get as many looks out of the warp as possible. For the kakishibu series, I’ve focused on all white wefts in both alpaca and cotton, a black alpaca weft on both the fade warp and solid warp, and a solid warp with indigo cotton weft. The effects of mixing color can easily become unexpected, though the kakishibu/indigo combination was previously developed from my San Francisco trip.
I will be offering all of the faded series for pre-sale near the end of August for anyone wanting a great Fall option before the season begins.
Looming Jane 