kumihimo and paper – and a request for help
I’ve graduated from 4 strand kumihimo to 8 strand, it was quicker and easier
I also stuck masking tape around the outside edge of my stool to prevent the cords from slipping
samples of two different patterns, square braid (top) and round
the coloured yarn is handspun silk, it is quite textured, maybe not a good choice
but – it is the weft in the fabric for another shifuku (bag)
Velma’s packages are always full of wonderful surprises, on the right cards of her work
several sheets of lokta paper from Nepal
it is very light and strong, I can’t wait to make shifu yarn with it
beautiful samples of her handmade paper – Canadian thistle, milkweed and hosta
and “the first string I made with India … ecodyed silk”
top two strands are Aimee’s hanji, in the middle Velma’s “string”
the green is a 1/2 inch strip of selvedge I cut off a piece of natural dyed silk
now I know what to do with those fragile, old silk scraps
I am struggling to reduce approximately 2000 pictures into a one hour slide/DVD show
I’ve sorted the pictures into separate folders according to techniques
now I need to put it all together in a sensible order
can anyone tell me of a program they use that is simple (no techno geeks here) and efficient??
Thanks for this post. I was just eyeballing a piece of lokta the other day wondering if it could be used for shifu. No washi around here that I’m aware of. Any other substitutes you can think of?
LikeLike
Kristin – Velma uses lokta with great sucess, that is why she sent it to me. I’ve been using washi from Japan and just recently found kiraku kozo at Opus Art Supplies – it is very expensive, works beautifully and I imagine can be ordered online. I don’t use any western substitutes – why put all the time and effort into pulp paper?
LikeLike
Thank you for the advice. I’ll give lokta a try (I’ve found it locally for $4 a big sheet…probably best for my budget.)
LikeLike
Kristin – there are different grades and qualities of paper. the one I have is made in the Japanese way, I think that is necessary but I haven’t tried it yet.
LikeLike
Oops. Forgot to mention that I use an older version of Powerpoint (2003) for slide shows and it’s very easy to figure out. I run WinXP so my system is not exactly up-to-date and it works fine.
LikeLike
Louisa – I’m using XP too, think that is part of the problem “they” don’t like you if you don’t have the newest, best program!! thanks for the hint.
LikeLike
I’m pretty experienced in kumihimo but I’m not sure why you need the masking tape on your marudai. Don’t you want the threads to slip nicely around when you’re working them? It would drive me nuts with them sticking – like my original cardboard marudai did before I got a real wooden one. Congrats on trying more complex braids though! It’s quite addicting, isn’t it?
LikeLike
Lousia – the masking tape gives the threads something to rest on and not go slip sliding around, it either that or sanding the varnish to rough it up a bit – the threads don’t stick, the sticky bit is on the inside. i can’t stand the cardboard thing.
LikeLike
Hi Jean, I’ve stopped using Picasa, it’s part of Google and you need to be careful that it doesn’t do what it wants rather than what you want and you end up with everything “synced”. I now have an Apple and use iPhoto but a friend who gives illustrated talks uses Powerpoint to organise and show his photos and says it is straightforward and powerful enough to do what she needs. Good luck.
LikeLike
thanks, thanks, thanks Lis I’m really being very resistant to this and time is marching on. I’ll have another look at power point. It drives me nuts how some computer companies are control freaks and try to manipulate everything you do. Don’t need Google “syncing” (sinking) me!
LikeLike
apparently picasa is good and easy to use.you need not upload the photos to their site.
LikeLike
Neki – I’m going to give it a try
LikeLike
My 9 year old and 14 year old use Microsoft Powerpoint to do slide shows. According to my 9 year old it is pretty easy. I know it has come free on a few of our computers.
LikeLike
thanks Deb – my 11 year old grandson tried to teach me on that system but I using such an old system it doesn’t work. ugh!
LikeLike
agh, i don’t envy the task but can commiserate (i’ve lately been thinking i really need to figure out a new way of organizing my photos, period). i use iphoto (b/c i have a mac), which is pretty straightforward, though you’ll have to dump all your photos in there first. i have heard good things about picasa, which is free and online and okay for PCs. the pros swear by lightroom, but you have to pay adobe for that, and i suspect it requires more technogeekdom.
LikeLike
thanks Aimee – I keep my photos fairly well organized – need to keep the grandchildren out of the dye pots! and I’ve been looking at picasa. I’m wishing I hadn’t said I would do this.
LikeLike