shibui

Buddhist sites

This is my Buddhist site :: here

This is the site for the Amida Pureland Buddhists in Scotland :: here

and this is about our Buddhist School :: here

 

Textile Art: The Ancient Practice That Continues to Reinvent Itself

Textile Art: The Ancient Practice That Continues to Reinvent Itself

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We come into contact with textile art every day. From the clothes we wear to the objects that decorate our home, it’s an art that can be simultaneously beautiful and useful. But it should come as no surprise that this field occupies these two categories. At the beginning of its long history, textiles were seen as a utility rather than something that serves no discernible function aside from aesthetics. And while this is still the case today, visionary creatives have helped the art continually reinvent itself.

History

Textile art is one of the oldest forms of art in human civilization. At its inception, it was not focused on looks, but for practical purposes—such as clothing or blankets to keep warm. This dates all the way back to prehistoric times, and anthropologists estimate that this is between 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. These goods were made from animal skins, furs, leaves, and more.

The history of hand-knitting

The history of hand-knitting

• The History of knitting
  

While the origins of knitting are unclear, we know it has been practised in many different parts of the world, over many centuries, producing objects of great beauty as well as items fulfilling practical needs. When done by hand, it has used simple tools, such as hand-carved sticks of wood, bone, quill and ivory or metal wires and fine steel knitting needles that were commonplace in the 19th century.

The earliest examples of hand-knitting

Hand-knitting today is most closely associated with flat-knitting, which is worked in rows using two knitting needles and where the piece is turned from front to back on each row. But there is also a long history of knitting 'in the round'. Here, four or five needles are used to create a continuous seamless tube – a technique particularly used for caps, stockings and gloves. Today's dominance of flat-knitting is partly because it's easier to represent on construction charts and patterns.

An early woollen item in our collection is a pair of socks from Egypt that date from the 3rd to 5th century AD. They have been made using the technique 'nålbindning', a laborious technique more akin to sewing than knitting, where yarn is threaded through the eye of a sewing needle and then worked in the round through a series of loops. Some believe that this technique was a forerunner of the faster method of knitting with two or more needles.

Pair of socks, 250 – 420, Egypt. Museum no. 2085&A-1900. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

About Saori

What is SAORI?

SAORI is a contemporary hand weaving program founded by a Japanese lady, Misao Jo about 40 years ago, in which everyone can express oneself freely regardless of age, gender, disability or intellectual aptitude.  In SAORI, people can enjoy hand weaving as an art form not only as a hand craft.  In the past 40 years, SAORI has been introduced all over Japan, and there are more than 40,000 SAORI weavers in Japan only.  SAORI has also been introduced overseas, in more than 40 countries.  SAORI is now practiced across Japan, other countries in Asia, Middle East, North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa at nearly one thousand institutions including special education schools, sheltered workshops, high schools, adult education centers, and rehabilitation centers for people with disabilities.  Misao Jo has been commended by Japanese government twice for her public contribution made through SAORI hand weaving program.  In 1990, she was honored by Minister of Health and Welfare of Japan, and in 1992 again by Prime Minister of Japan.   

Misao Jo

The “SA” of SAORI has the same meaning as the first syllable of the word “SAI” which is found in Zen vocabulary. It means everything has its own individual dignity. And the “ORI” means weaving.

All flowers are beautiful, even though each individual flower is different in form and color. Because of this difference, “all are good”. Because everything has the same life, life cannot be measured by a yardstick. It is this individuality that makes everything meaningful and the uniqueness of each thread that creates the tapestry of life.

Misao Jo, Founder of SAORI

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A gift for my mother

This is a 'twiddlemuff' for my mother, who is 97 1/2 and fading from the world

I've also woven and embroidered a label so it doesn't go astray