when paper isn't just the daily news, your hydro bill or something to recycle
kigami - Japanese handmade paper
and kami-ito - paper cut and spun to make thread
this is fabric woven in 2011, the paper was used for calligraphy practice, the black marks are sumi ink
silk warp, paper weft
and the random white slubs are an indication that it is genuine handspun paper thread
my weaving student brought me a roll of shoji (sliding screen) paper to see if it would workit isn't strong enough but slowly, with care, I managed to spin a couple small skeins
she will try weaving with it
then I went to the art supply store where I always bought good Japanese paper - (kiraku kozo)
this was cut and spun in 2019 - the paper is very fine and smooth, almost like tissue paper (top, wrapped around the balls)
below it is the paper I am cutting now - thicker with a much softer fibre
it seems the store is changing their product line and there was only one choice
it was very pricey so I only bought 1 sheet - 36.5" X 25" (93cm X 64cm)
folded and starting to cut - first a sample to check how wide to cut each strip
the new thread is at the bottom with the old, fine thread above it
the paper definitely makes a big difference
this is my go to book for all things shifu - in English and Japanese
Kigami and Kami-ito by Hiroko Karuno (she lives part time in Toronto)
also A Song of Praise for Shifu by Susan J. Byrd
Hanji Unfurled by Aimee Lee - hanji is Korean paper
and Diligence and Elegance - The Nature of Japanese Textiles - from an 2018 exhibition at the Textile Museum of Canada
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