Only one title

Morioka Shoten, a bookshop in Tokyo, stocks copies of only one title each week - the owner, Yoshiyuki Morioka, says this about his shop:

“This bookstore that sells only one book could also be described as ‘a bookstore that organises an exhibition derived from a single book’. For instance, when selling a book on flowers, in the store could be exhibited a flower that actually appears in the book. Also, I ask the authors and editors to be at the bookstore for as much time as possible. This is an attempt to make the two-dimensional book into three-dimensional ambience and experience. I believe that the customers, or readers, should feel as though they are entering ‘inside a book’.”

Read more on The Guardian. The image up top is a publication produced in conjunction with the exhibition Weaving Fabrics for Suits, by Franz Schmidt.

Repair Centre review

There's a really lovely review by Terence Dick on the Akimblog about the exhibition I was just in called Repair Centre.

If you're interested, you can read it here.

The mending workshop went wonderfully too - thank you to the six eager folks keen on learning to mend who attended. I made a little mending book to go along with the workshop which I am pretty proud of:

indigo &

Indigio tests and tries - it was much more difficult than I thought, but exciting too. I often think about alternate 'languages,' like how I 'read' my weaving to see what I should treadle next. For anyone who knows me, reading (in a traditional sense) has obviously been the first love of my life, but lately these alternate forms of understanding have really interested me. As with all new languages, the indigo vat was swirling and mysterious, and had little relation to those languages I already know, but for a first try I am pretty satisfied with these splotchy results. 

In case you're looking for something to read, my current title is all about another love of mine: letter writing.

I have a very nice friend named Christine who supplies me with all sorts of weaving-related things she doesn't need (as well as knitting help, troubleshooting skills, possible loom upgrades and the like). This little package of 2-harness lace techniques came my way recently - individual instruction cards complete with photographed samples and a picture of the wonderful sounding "Brooks fabric organ" - !

 This is the work of British sculptor Kate MccGwire - I saw an article on her work in the recent issue of Crafts magazine. She uses feathers to create her work - it's so beautiful!

Incidentally, I just finished reading this book on pigeons.

These are two pages of a book by Rosamond Purcell called Egg and Nest. The colours on some of the birds eggs were astounding!