Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, but the new scarf is a disappointment thus far.

It took 3 tries to get something other than burnt orange, and it's still not a deep red like I wanted, but is more of a scarlet red with darker areas and lighter areas.

I've just started pulling the strings out, only one Kumo design is showing up so far, clearly, the other few are so faint as to be almost nonexistant.

Not happy with it.

Maybe it'll get better when I get it all pulled out and wash it again. Maybe the design will show up better. Who knows.

But right now, I'm not happy with it.

And it was supposed to be a wedding gift. Now, I don't have the time to do another.}:(

I ... just dunno.

From this, the one on the right is the finished scarf. The one on the left is being worked on now...



To this... Scarf was 14"x72" by the way...



To THIS... hard to believe that large of a scarf tied down into something less than a foot long and 3 inches wide...

To soaked in soda ash solution, then dunked in blue Procion MX dyes, allowed to dry, then rinsed and allowed to dry again...



To pulling out the strings, two days later...



To washing again and ironing it flat (this was wet)...



To the finished product. This is Kumo Shibori. This is awesomeness.}:P And makes 5 types of Shibori I have attempted and succeeded in varying degrees.

As yet unnamed, so as yet unlisted.

I dyed 3 silk scarves 2 days ago, 2 Habotai and 1 Crepe De Chine. I was trying for a nice rich golden ecru color. Well, only one of the three came close. This isn't that one. Heh.

One the dyehard email list, they were discussing Shibori and the 'Kumo' or spiderweb method that someone else had a specialized tool for creating this style with. So we were brainstorming how to do this method without that tool.



Yesterday, I asked Mark to stop by the store and pick me up some string on his way home. All he could find was Jute twine. So that's what I'm attempting on one scarf to see if it'll work.



It's a slow process, and I've already given myself a blister. Add to this, the silk is 14" wide and 72" long. This is going to take awhile.



Hopefully it'll all be worth it.

First up is the new scarves.



'Water'
13"w x 68"l
100% Crepe De Chine Silk

* * * * * * *

'Water' is a hand dyed 100% Crepe De Chine silk scarf, carefully dyed in the Arashi Shibori method.

Available HERE or HERE.





'Under the Oaks'
Hand dyed Silk Scarf
11"w x 60"l
100% Habotai (China) Silk

* * * * * * *

'Under the Oaks' is a unique hand dyed and sunprinted 100% Habotai silk scarf.

Available HERE or HERE.





'Boneyard'
Dark Series III
11"w x 60"l
100% Crepe De Chine Silk

* * * * * * *

'Boneyard' is a unique, hand dyed 100% Crepe De Chine silk scarf, that has been carefully dyed in the Arashi Shibori dyeing method, using Procion MX dyes. It was then discharged, and overdyed again with Procion MX dyes, resulting in the unique colors and patterns you see.

Available HERE or HERE.



The following scarves have updated photos...

( Continue... )

Sneak preview of 2 new silk scarves- one in crepe de chine, the other habotai. Hope to have them listed for sale by Monday.

Witching Hour by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

'Witching Hour'
100%Habotai Silk Scarf
8"x56" flat, 6"x56" pleated


Third in my new Dark Series, 'Witching Hour' is an Arashi Shibori, OOAK hand dyed silk scarf, with hand beaded points, using sterling silver seed beads, Fire polished Austrian crystals, silver-grey rounds and silver tone, heavy skull and crossbones charms.

Black as the deepest hour of night, with hints of deep blue and silver from Pearl Ex powder suspended in fabric medium, then dry brushed on and thoroughly steam ironed for durability, this unique piece is perfect for wearing as a neck wrap or even a stylish belt.

Available Here




Northern Lights Silk Scarf by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

'Northern Lights'
100% Habotai Silk
8"x54" flat, 6"x54" pleated

Hand dyed using Procion MX dyes, this gorgeous, OOAK silk scarf was Arashi shibori wrapped, then discharged, then over dyed again, giving it a myriad of depths to the colors.

Within one scarf, you'll see deep navy, blacks, indigos, violets, silvery whites, even pale blues and lavenders in the folds.


Available Here

And finally, the Hand Dyed 100% Cotton Bandanas-


Akita Rescue Bandanas by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

100% Cotton, Hand dyed Banadanas
32" on long side, 21" on short sides
To be hand stenciled with Akita Stencil at ' point', in choice of Silver, or Gold.

These cotton bandanas are lightweight, hand dyed and easy to wear. Perfect length for not only wearing wrapped around your hair, but also as a neck kerchief.

Dyed using Procion MX dyes, and to be hand stenciled day of purchase in your choice of either Silver or Gold.

100% of the proceeds from each bandana sold goes to benefit Akita Rescue.

Your choice of colors-

A- Firey Oranges
B- Bronze and Loden
C- Cinnamon and Clove
D- Vanilla and Plum
E- Turbulant Ocean
F- Oak and Nutmeg

Available Here

more coming soon.

The general misconception that simply because some of the supplies can be cheap, the finished product needs to be as well.

How do I put this...

I do this for a living, or try to. I KNOW what they cost. I also know exactly how much certain fiber reactive dyed for use with those scarves cost, what it takes in terms of my time and my energy to create ONE of my scarves. I also know how much it costs to simply list a scarf and sell it (20 cents to list, 3.5% of the sale, on Etsy), as well as how much it cost for packaging that I use and what it costs to ship.

Now, given this is my JOB, if I don't pay myself, then, yes, I could probably sell a scarf for roughly 20.00 and make a profit. Especially if they or I don't donate anything.

But given that I value my time, my energy and my talent far more than that, and given the fact that I donate 50% of my proceeds from each sale, I simply cannot sell a scarf at bare bottom prices. Which is what a lot of people do.

Yes, Dharma is relatively cheap, IF you only buy the Habotai, IF you only use certain sizes. I don't just use Habotai, I don't just use the smaller sizes. I use Crepe De Chine, Stone washed Crepe De Chine, Habotai, Charmeuse, etc, etc... as well as a wider range of sizes.

That adds up.

Then you add in the cost of certain fiber reactive dyes, that I do not buy from Dharma, and in order to get any sort of profit from THOSE, you need to buy in large quantities, and for certain colors, THAT adds up.

Add in Soda Ash, Synthrapol, PVC pipe for Shibori if you decide to go that route, string for shibori, Thioxurea for discharging, beads, FireLine, charms, semi precious stones, whathaveyou if you decide to embellish them, whatever soap and fabric softener you prefer to hand wash your finished piece in after rinsing the excess dye out, your water bill, your electric bill, and gee, it's not simply 5.00 to create one scarf anymore.

But customers don't see that. They see a gorgeous scarf at a low price, and they see another gorgeous scarf at a higher price and automatically want the cheaper price. And expect that everyone should sell at the cheaper price.

That's where I'm coming from.

Yes, it is a nice thing they are doing, donating their profits, etc. But for them, this appears to be mostly a hobby.

I don't.

I do this as my job and people coming in saying, oh it only costs such and such amount to create one of these, is wrong. That would be like telling a famous painter that because their paints were so cheap, that their canvases were so cheap, they should sell their artwork cheap too. It doesn't work that way.

Autumn Splendor by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

This stunning silk scarf is the 1st of the Dante-Inu Commermorative Birth Day Scarves. Only one a year will be released, every November. No two will ever be alike, in coloring or style.


Autumn Splendor, close up by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

Remember these scarves?





Well, if you really like them, now is your chance to buy tickets for the raffle in which they will be given away.

Akita Rescue of Western New York is holding it's Annual Akita Picnic/Fun Day on Sept 13, 2008. At this picnic, raffle drawings will be held for a wide variety of Akita related and non Akita related items.

My 2 scarves will be raffled off as a set. You can own these 2, OOAK , 100% Silk scarves, for mere dollars in the grand scheme of things.

So buy your raffle tickets now. Buy LOTS. all proceeds benefit Akita Rescue.}:)

We're buying a good amount and putting them towards the dog bed/toy basket.}:) Our next Akita won't want for toys if we win. Heh.


And remember, these scarves won't be offered up anywhere else. If you want a silk scarf, and want to help a good cause at the same time, there are still Dante-Inu Memorial Scarves available. 2 Silver and 11 Copper. 50% of each sale goes to Akita Rescue.

Managed to come up with a second entry for the Old Church Gallery Quilt Show and the Mountain Comforts XX Quilt Show, both in Oct. Both had been originally started several years ago, one really only needed the binding, then finish quilting to be complete, but like usual , I procrastinated on it. The other, needed everything, except the top made. Heh.



( Quite a few pictures. Large. )

I have 2 new scarves that I just dyed. This is basically a sneak peek at them. There will only be one of each. That means, OOA

Why?

Because there's a catch. They aren't going up for sale at the Shop. These particular scarves for specially dyed for the ARWNY auction this Sept.

So if, you want one, you'll have to go bid on them.

( Peektures... )

Been working on the Memorial scarves. Got all the reserved listed, as well as the extras. Now to wait for them to sell.

Dyed 2 new Habotai scarves for the upcoming ARWNY auction. I decided to do 2 that I haven't already dyed previously, so these are completely new scarves.

I'm thinking January time frame for starting to look for our next Akita. Honestly? The fence doesn't really have to be finished right away. We do still have the lead run up and the pup would, invariably, be inside with me most often. Plus there's the park down the street. It's just, time frame wise, I think that would be a good time to start looking. No upcoming vacations that would leave the pup behind, it'll be nearly a year after Dante leaving us. I think I'll be ready by then. We'll see.

Harvested the first bunch of green beans from the garden yesterday. not many, but there's lots of baby beans still out there. Have a zucchini growing as well.

The Day lilies went nuts, rather like the Irises did, this year. The Praying Mantis is still occupying the Basil and Salvia out front. The squirrels found the volunteer Sunflower and ripped it out. That'll teach me to not keep the feeders fill. Oops.

Sims started boring me, so I started building houses for awhile. Now I'm trying out a 'poverty challenge', but will post it as a storyline of sorts rather than a legacy. Never could get into the legacy style of writing. Blackblade Clan needs to be updated. The next Chapter is written, just need to figure out what screenshots to use. Been rethinking the plot line for it, and haven't decided if I want to continue with the way I have it in the notes for it, or if I want to streamline it more. May streamline it a bit. We'll see.

Say 'Hellboy II' last weekend with the bro in law and sis in law. If you like 'Pan's Labyrinth', you'll liked HB II. Very visually pleasing. A little slow in some areas, but it makes up for it. Going to see 'The Dark Knight' this weekend. Hope it's as good as the trailers and such make it out to be. Even if it's not, Christian Bale will make up for it.

It needs to not be so hot, so I can go start digging out where I want the pond to be.

Speaking of ARWNY, they are having their 4th annual picnic the weekend we plan to be in New Jersey. I talked Mark into going, mentioned it to his mom, who told his dad, who said he might be interested in going to. It'll be nice, finally meeting a few of the people I only know via emails and the Akita Rescue list, as well as meeting their Akitas.

Stupidity going on the various Sims2 comms, makes me realize that I really should have stayed a lurker. Oh well. Most I go to for the CC and such, not the scintillating conversations. /sarcasm.

Ok, all reserved scarves have been listed.

There are TWO from Limited Edition Run 1 left. These are the gold ones. They are listed here.

There are NINE from Limited Edition Run 2 left. These are silver. They are not listed yet, as I still need to finish dyeing them and such.

So, if you want another one, or know someone who might like one, send them on by.

So far, total funds raised for Akita rescue is $215.00. This is counting the scarves that have been purchased, as well the ones still reserved. The donation will be sent in once the final RESERVED scarf has been bought. A second donation will be made as the other 11 scarves sell out.

So pass the word! Let's get these 11 scarves sold. Make it so I have to do a third limited run in copper. Let's see if we can get up near 500.00 donated to Akita Rescue in Dante's name.

Ok, all but 2 of the first Run are listed, several sold already.

Gab, and Rottn, yours still need listing yet. They'll be up by Friday.

Dansr, Atypia, and Starsong , yours should also be up by Friday. These are the second Run ones, in silver.

Conscience, I'm hoping to have yours up by this evening, if not sooner.

There are 3 Limited Edition Run 1, in gold left and 9 Limited Edition Run 2, in silver left. Depending on whether they sell in a quick fashion, I may do a third Run in copper. We'll see.

There's no rush to get your scarves, don't break the bank. They are reserved listings for each of you. I am sending the links directly to YOU, so there's no confusion.}:)

Thanks everyone.

Feels like it's been longer, honestly.

Today I go to the vet to pick up her ashes. Mail hasn't run yet, but I'm hoping the urn comes today.

I got the scarves in for Dante's Remembrance Scarves. Had to order more of 2 of the colors of dye, as I don't have near enough. That should be here tomorrow. Still waiting on the stencils. Still waiting on my Abney Park cd, that I ordered nearly a month ago... oh wait, wrong post, sorry.

Waiting... yeah, I'm doing alot of that lately.

A piece just doesn't want to be photographed properly.

Case in point is my Spirit of the Cove piece.

I took 2 sets of photos of that piece. Both on sunny days.

tHe first time, they came out so badly backlit, that you couldn't edit the photos to see the details without ruining the integrity of the photos. Today, I retook them, and while I'm still not entirely happy with them, you can definitely see details and they were a vast improvement.

Knowing me, I'll retake them again sometime, in an attempt to improve them.}:)

But for now, I guess they'll have to do.

I have a new scarf waiting for its beadwork trim. I need certain charms to go on it, and have to wait until payday to order them. It's a very interesting scarf, one that Mark gave me the idea of doing. Not my colors, certainly, but someone will love it.

I am also getting ready, as soon as I move Max off the design table, to fold an Indigo base dyed scarf to prepare it for shibori. This one, if it does what I want, should come out gorgeous, with blue undertones and red and purple highlights.

I still need to finish my EBW Monthly Challenge piece. I still have roughly 12 more inches of branched fringe to do, then to attach the main componant and bead it. SHOULD be finished by next weekend, I hope. Also need to finish the commissioned piece for the guy from Mark's work. That will only take a few hours, tops, though, so not too worried about that.

Back to work I go...

Winter Twilight by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART


Dreaming of Autumn by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART


Beneath a Blood Red Sky by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

When I get the beads added to the 'points' of each of these, they will be listed for sale in my Etsy shop. Most likely Monday evening.


This next one IS NOT FOR SALE. Yesterday was my second niece's 16th Birth Day (16! Yikes!) and this is a part of her Birth Day gift.


Allison's Dream by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

Ocean Dreams has been listed for sale.




I have 3 more in various stages, that should be ready by Friday(listed by Friday, photos as soon as Thursday afternoon), in 3 different color palates. So keep an eye out. First come, first serve. Remember, there is only ONE of each. Colors can be duplicated, but there will never be another one of the very first ones.