When I was a wee child, back in the days when surburban shopping centres had haberdashery shops, and small family owned fabric shops were common, we used to frequent one fabric store on our weekly visits to one shopping centre. It wasn't by any means a fabulous fabric shop, but it had a decent range, patterns and sewing things. It also had wide low skirtings that were like seats to my brother and I, and they wound their way through the shop, a little bit like a road system.
They also had a large selection of old timber cones for winding thread onto. My brother and I would spend a decent amount of time in there stacking and moulding these cones into elaborate skyscrapers and then knocking them down. Because they were old and worn, they had a beautiful tactile quality to them - heavy, used, smooth. I had forgotton about these cones until I went through ordering yarn for Sumidity at the beginning of the year. Some of Habu's yarns need to be wound onto timber cones and then wound back onto cardboard cones.
The process - lets call it a ritual - of winding the thread once, and then again, is all that I hold dear about the japanese aesthetic: the complete love and respect for an object or process and it's path of travel into our everyday lives. To many of us it would probably seem to be an over complication to wind twice, but the respect these people have for the fineness of the thread and the end result of the cone/ball/skein is pretty impressive. I think that's why I am loving using their yarn so much. It seems a little like a ritual - to take respect and reverence for the craft you are practising by using good quality materials that have been prepared with care, so that in turn you prepare with care.
It may have seemed at first read that the idea of using sewing thread weight yarn to knit a jumper for a baby while time strapped was possibly a Rather Silly Idea. But in fact it's really quite ok. I am using two threads - one each of merino and ramie and 2.75mm needles and it's coming along quite nicely when I have the chance to knit. It has a great drape, is a reasonably open weave without being overly so, and is quite soft. I knit up the front which has all the shaping and detail work to it, and realised I had completely miscalculated a major part: something I had known since about half way through but needed to see the front as a whole to see exactly where I needed to modify it. I am using the first front as a sample swatch really. I'm now nearing the end of the second front, and the back and sleeves wont take long at all. I really want to get this piece off the needles so I can show what the shaping is and how it works.
There seems to be a bit of a Habu thing going on out there at the moment - Colourknits has done a great scarf and has also set up a flickr group for Habu lovers. I still have some stainless steel cones (amongst other pieces)to knit up, and this drapey shawl is great.
beautiful.... i was just at their site over the weekend talking myself out of the most beautiful woven wool. gorgeous, gorgeous things available over there.
Posted by: stephanie s | April 17, 2007 at 10:25 AM
Good God Woman. You must have incredible patience. What a wonderful and admirable idea.
Posted by: Rebecca | April 17, 2007 at 11:22 AM
This must feel just heavenly...
Posted by: jennifer w. | April 17, 2007 at 12:55 PM
That yarn!
And the weight!
I'm working in 2ply silk, so I'm not phased at all by your choice.
Though it has made me a little covetous.
Posted by: shula | April 17, 2007 at 01:20 PM
mum and i were just chatting today about the delight of winding yarn :) i am of course enthralled by your progress...
Posted by: sarah | April 17, 2007 at 07:31 PM
wow! I couldn't do it but it looks amazing and the colours are gorgeous!!! well done!
Corrie:)
Posted by: corrie | April 18, 2007 at 08:25 PM
i am really glad you mentioned this about the weight of the habu yarn.
i like small needles and lace weight yarns and just finished a stole in lace weight alpaca. the habu order that arrived recently though was thread weight and i wasn't sure how knitting with this would work out.
your post helping me rethink this. thank you.
Posted by: michele | April 20, 2007 at 03:52 AM
Your work looks gorgeous. Hope to see more of it! Coloursknit just posted the below book today, it's really wonderful! You most likely will love it too! (Either one of these numbers is the isbn: 978-4895113823 or, 4895113825
"Setsuko Torii Hand Knit Works"
Posted by: Terry | April 20, 2007 at 03:58 AM
i love the way you put this... the love of the object or process and its path in our everyday lives... that is what is so appealing, isn't it? the respect for ritual and the elevation of daily moments into something more, something special. i was thinking of this the other day in the context of food, reading the latest "gourmet" magazine. there is a great article about these little japanese restaurants that have run for 25 or 30 generations, and make one thing-- rice balls, or eel-- but they make it so so well. the idea that it might take 7 years to learn to make dough properly, and another 10 to cut it. it's humbling.
Posted by: amisha | May 03, 2007 at 04:15 AM
what a beautiful post. i am so curious now about habu yarn and am going to explore now.
thanks.
Posted by: Nancy | May 06, 2007 at 11:04 AM