Japan highlight

I am going to take my time with the Japan highlights, that way it will last longer. One of the highlights was going to the craft village and dying handkerchiefs with indigo. The craft village is a complex of workshops and studios where artisans are working and living and making traditional Japanese goods. There is a fiber artist, and we went into her studio and dyed white handkerchiefs beautiful deep blue. She had us use rubber bands to tie up our pieces, then we put them in hot water, then cold, then we took them across the porch to the room with the big vats of dye set into the floor. I think they were about 3 feet deep, and she had made the dye herself. We donned rubber gloves, squatted down and submerged the cloth into the vat for several minuets. I was a tiny bit scared of falling in. After a few minuets we pulled out the fabric and took it back into the studio to take the rubber bands off and to rinse the fabric out. It really was magical. I should take a picture of my handkerchief for show and tell. Then we sat in her studio and talked. Her little black dog came in to play. She had all sorts of looms and wheels and silk cocoons. She made silk fabric for kimono, and she was wearing one that day. It was a lovely experience.