Vanessa got back from her short trip abroad to find out that the books have finally been released from customs and can be promptly sorted out and packaged to get on their merry way to our loyal subscribers, who trusted and believed in us, who wanted to be the first to see the book, the result of hard work of a year and a half! For that we thank you all!!

Some logistic issues had to be sorted out, as for our subscribers we wanted to have their copies signed by both of us, but being separated by the Pacific Ocean – Vanessa in California, myself in Japan – we have found a solution! And now each book had our signatures in them. Yes for success!

Once all lists and preparations were ready, Vanessa and her husband got to work on packing and mailing hundreds of boxes!! Just to give you an extent, many haven’t expected our book to be hard cover copy, but they do weigh significantly more than regular paperback, so lifting and carrying it all – one big work out! Now if you were waiting for them books to arrive, please get yourself a copy!  You can get it directly from us or from a chosen group of yarn stores in the United States as well as several stores overseas. Time to beat summer heat with knitting those weather perfect garments! I am wearing Airfoil skirt today in this 80F heat and it feels breezy, love the pockets and that it’s a stretchy knit without being sheer.

Let me hear that knitting needles music, ladies and gentlemen!

I am not sure how did it start for many of you, but my first Habu Textiles yarn was Shosenshi Linen paper that I purchased back in 2006 from Knit Purl store online. How do I remember? I have just found my receipt the other day. It was funny that I was actually looking for a raffia like yarn.. and I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. When it has arrived it took me 3 hours to gently wind it by hand, as at that time I didn’t own yet a swift or a ball-winder. The feel of it really surprised me, it was much thinner and more fragile than I would want from this “raffia” to be. So my crochet swatch of it really didn’t do what I needed. I put it in the basket thinking what a fiasco… Only later to find out what a treasure I had acquired for my stash.

I know I have heard many stories later that people had purchased yarns like that from Habu textiles and not knowing what to do with it. But with time I have learnt – you can pair that yarn with anything or knit by itself and get an amazing result. This is what yarn from Habu Textiles was all about. Create your own with an array of their yarns to find one in particular you love.

Swatch above made using 4 different colors of A-60 on 4mm needle knit only with a single strand of it.

This season starts with a linen paper additions. Thinner (2mm) version of Shosenshi Linen N-67B has joined the team, it is still rustles as you knit with it and still has all the features of the A-60, but now you can incorporate it with with lots of other tiny threads or work it on its own as shown in a charcoal swatch below, knit single-stranded on 3.25mm needle.

And a thicker addition of Linen paper has also made appearance in a face of N-70, which represents 3 linen paper strands individually twisted, then plied together to create one yarn. It gives it rather chunky weight and can certainly suit those who love quicker results on bigger needles. Swatch in brick color below is made using 5.5mm needle and is also held single-stranded.

While doing some research one can find out that traditionally paper, linen paper has been used in kimono weaving in Japan for centuries. Paper has this amazing feature of heat insulation (for a laugh, bums on the street stuff their jackets with newspapers to keep warm, too literal, but it has a point). And on the subject how is it made.. flax is ground into cellulose-like mass and then strung into a flat tape that is later re-enforced with sizing/starch like glue. Garments created with this yarn are air light, if handled wrong this yarn can give you couple paper cuts, so be careful. But overall it is an amazing experience to try knitting with this one-of-a-kind material. You feel like a part of some secret club. It would sing in your hands, just give it a tune and listen.

While Olga and I are eagerly awaiting for the arrival of the books. We would like to share with you some of the book cover designs I came up with and how we choose our final cover. Before the layout begins, we actually had to go through over 100 photos in order to pick our top 3 favorites. We narrowed down to two of our favorites, featuring Olga’s Axonometric Top as it would look the best on 9″x 9″ square format.

Cover #1 – I love this cover because the texture and color of the background really compliment the garment well. However, part of the photo was a little over exposed. The white blotch on the right started to bother me the more we I stared at this cover. The title of the cover also seems a little heavy at the bottom.

Cover #2 – This cover photo looks beautifully with how the photo was cropped. However, we both thought the overlapping of title on top of the garment seems a little distracting.

Cover #3 – We got some pretty good responds from our close friends and family members whom actually seen this cover. They loved the photo as well as the big bold title.

Cover #4 – This cover was our top choice. We both think the bright background worked really well with the texture of the garment. By having the book title placed closer to the spine, the photo and the title seems well balanced. It also draw your eye to the garment which is our top goal.

When it came time to choosing a back cover, first we needed to establish what a knitter would like to see there. Something similar to the front cover or something absolutely opposite. Spine is what also dictated the layout in this case, the colors blended really well in our top choice and texture in that photo is very well exposed.

The back cover featuring Duplicity pullover was our other favorite, but we thought scale of the back garment needed to be smaller in order for a reader/knitter pay attention to the text.

Now what is your favorite out of all these options?

We can’t wait to her your comments!

Above swatches made on  2.75 mm needles

100% bamboo

XS-24 20/12 bamboo – approx. 80 yds [72 m]/oz [28 g]

XS-32 2/18 bamboo – approx. 50 yds [45 m]/oz [28 g]

XS-31 20/18 bamboo – approx. 80 yds [72 m]/oz [28 g]

XS-45 20/3 bamboo – approx. 338 yds [305 m]/oz [28 g]

Bamboo is a relative newcomer to the textile world. The yarns make silky-soft and lustrous fabrics that is strong and long-wearing. What’s best, bamboo is one of the fastest-growing and most sustainable plants in the world. Made up of multiple filaments twisted together, Habu Bamboo is amazingly smooth to knit. It can easily be worked with smaller to larger gauge, depending on user preference and type of project. The only downside is it’s splittyness, which is best resolved when used on bamboo needles.

Garments created with bamboo yarn please with amazing water-like fluidity cascading around your body when worn directly against your skin. In textile form, bamboo retains many of the properties it has as a plant. Bamboo is highly water absorbent, able to take up three times its weight in water. In bamboo fabric, this translates to an excellent wicking ability that will pull moisture away from the skin so that it can evaporate

Bamboo has amazing soft drape which is perfect for creating elegant wraps, delicate sweaters and scarves. Its lustrous sheen and comforting texture, whether straight stitched or used in finely detailed patterns, will be treasured by anyone who comes in contact with it.

Bamboo also has many antibacterial qualities, which bamboo fabric is apparently able to retain, even through multiple washings. This helps to reduce bacteria that thrive on clothing and cause unpleasant odors. In other features, bamboo fabric will keep the wearer cooler in summer and warmer in winter due to its great insulating properties. Which makes this fiber best for any project.

Some exciting events are taking place this weekend in Portland, Oregon at Knit Purl yarn store. This weekend is marked for a Portland Yarn Crawl event and I am excited to let you all know, that Ori Ami Knits garments are going to be in the store for display. So if you are near that area, make sure to stop by and take a look. Unfortunately, neither me or Vanessa will be able to be present for this wonderful event, but please come see Takako and wonderful yarns of Habu textiles!

Irina Shaposhnikova 09 from pierre debusschere on Vimeo.

This Fall Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. has presented us with an amazing opportunity to view their current exhibit Japanese Contemporary Fashion: The Mary Basket Collection. When my friends were over in DC from Ohio for a visit we managed to see it and it is truly breathtaking, the exhibit is still on till April 2010. So if you are going to be in DC, you have to go see it for yourself!

images courtesy of Cubistliterature and Olga Buraya-Kefelian

Now that I live in Japan, I honestly can’t wait for Kyoto Costume Institute to announce some amazing new exhibitions to explore! They are the biggest source of inspiration for me as I have grown up around fashion, but a different kind of fashion. And now I see fashion everyday from streets of Harajuku to peripheral residences of real Japan or at least where it all started….

Above swatches made on 3.25 mm needles

100% cotton

Approx. 265 yds [238m]/oz [28gr]

Available in over 24 colors.

A fine cotton ribbon has a papery texture. The yarn is pressed into a tape then “glued” with viscose sizing (starch). “Gima” literally means “fake linen” in Japanese. The yarn has a general cool, crisp, “cottony” feel while also offers a subtle amount of fullness and body, especially when knitted using double strands. It behaves great on the needles.

Swatch made with Gima washed and blocked beautifully, stitches relaxed and flattened into a smooth and cohesive piece of fabric. It has great dimensional quality, the flatness of the yarn gives it excellent stitch definition in simple stockinette. It would create a beautiful airy summer tank top, cardigan set or small accessories like scarf and necklace. Garments made with Gima are better hand washed by soaking in cold or lukewarm water with a little bit of wool wash and air dry. Gima is currently available in 24 colors ranging from lovely pastels and earth tones to bright summery hues.

Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto Rei Kawakubo are so called founding fathers/mother of modern Japanese fashion.

Up to this moment they continue to excite and surprise. Later newcomer infusions into Japanese modern fashion such as  Junya Watanabe , Jun Takahashi, Akira Isogawa made they way in.  Continuously making this avant-garde phenomena and unique as it gets.

Around the globe people obsess and collect items of clothing from these designer and lucky few museums got a chance to showcase this amazing art to public.

Couple years ago Vanessa has got a chance to visit Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to see this breathtaking and US exclusive exhibit photographed by Hiroshi Sugimoto Stylized Sculpture: Contemporary Japanese Fashion from the Kyoto Costume Institute.

She was lucky to have experienced this amazing exhibit and I was lucky enough to hear and read all about it, I have searched for images and they are stunning, nothing draws your attention to every single detail better than beautifully arranged sculptures along with perfect  set and lighting.

We are thrilled to announce that we have launched our Digital book, starting with Chapter 1 :: Practical Geometry. If you are a subscriber and have not yet received your copy of Chapter 1, please check your email spam inbox or send us an email to info@oriamiknits.com

For those that are not familiar, our digital book version has been broken down into 4 chapters. We chose to do so you could absorb the extended photography and details of each garment. In the consecutive weeks, subscribers are going receive following chapters of Ori Ami Knits, each containing 3-4 patterns. Each Chapters is unified by a theme, where we portrayed our vision in knitwear design.

There will be more images coming up in the next few weeks. Please check back soon. Thank you again for your support.

Ravelry It!

Rhombus Wrap

Axonometric Top

Cubed Necklace

Trapezium Pullover