Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Kogin and Temari

I’ve recently been reading about Kogin, a traditional Japanese needlework technique, at Queenie's Needlework blog.  This post includes a number of links to other sources. Included in that post is a link to Carolyn Foley's blog which has many patterns and much information.  I’ve seen a few kits for tissue holders, pillows, and small bags at the fabric store here, but I thought they were expensive so I didn’t buy any.  On my second trip to the wonderful Mariya store in Sapporo, I noticed a book about kogin. I asked the store clerk if they sold the fabric and thread.  She showed me fabric, thread, and several other books on the technique.  I ended up buying a different book than the one I originally found, some navy blue fabric and three skeins of kogin thread, all for less than the cost of a small kit.  She said the technique could also be worked on linen with floss.  The book is in Japanese, but has beautiful photos and illustrations, as well as a number of different traditional patterns. So far all I’ve done is look at the book, but I do plan to start a project soon.


Temari is also a traditional Japanese needlework technique.  About eight years ago Ted and I took an introductory pre-beginner temari class at the NCSU Japan Center with teacher Barbara Suess.  This is the ball I made.  Unfortunately, Ted’s did not make it to Japan.
 

My friend Katherine taught a temari class at a guild meeting, but so far I haven’t finished that one. 
 

Recently there was an article on RocketNews24 about a 92 year old woman who learned temari in her 60’s.  Check out the article and photos here.  Her work is incredible!

2 comments:

Margaret said...

Interesting that Kogin materials are available so readily now. I "met" Kogin some years ago but only in Japanese language books so I used Lugana fabric and pearl DMC. What is the proper Kogin fabric like?

Queeniepatch said...

Wow! The Kogin world is getting smaller! It will be interesting to follow your work, and good for me to put in a bit more effort into mine!
Temari making is also a wonderful example of Japanese eye candy. That work on the link was truly incredible!
You always have such interesting things on your blog to share. Thank you, Pamela!