Putting Needles to Rest in Tofu!

Today, I took part in the Hari-kuyo ceremony in Asakusa. This is a 400-year-old rite to honour your broken needles and the hard work they have done in the past year. The Shinto belief that objects have souls is merged with the Buddhist spirit of showing gratitude to things that have served you well.

In front of Awashimado Hall, on the grounds of the famous Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo, slabs of firm tofu had been set up. Kimono makers, as well as seamstresses and quilters, stuck their broken needles into these cakes of tofu and offered a prayer of thanks.

This ceremony is held in Tokyo on the 8th of February every year. I have until now been unable to attend but it has been on my bucket list to at least once take part. This year I was fortunate to find the time.

I saw many women clad in kimono.

If you found this interesting, please read this Wikipedia article and my friend Cynthia's report on her visit in 2021.

WIPW - Handing over the Baton

Work In Progress Wednesday report of today shows the handing over of the baton. One sampler takes over from a full one.

Samplers

The Mottled Wool Sampler I use for Sunday Stitch School's homework is now full. I have trimmed the edges and put on a binding.

Here is a detail. I will show more on Friday.

I then selected fabric for a new sampler. This time, the freeform sampler is also of a challenging fabric - kimono silk. I added support fabric on all four sides to keep it steady in a hoop and give it good tension. 

Now, my worst fear is that this silk will be as hard to mark as the mottled wool was. After the upcoming revision Sunbonnet Sue Sampler, I will start stitching on the red kimono silk with stitch #336.

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler 

The addition of #314 Split Stitch (purple), 

#315 Threaded Detached Chain Stitch (blue with green silk ribbon and orange metallic), 

#316 Detached Wheatear Stitch ( pink) and 

#317 Straight Stitch (metallic in various colours) can be seen here.

Mandala

I added another set of garland. There are now three done and five wedges to go.

Hexablooms

More assembly work. Totally,  I have 102 flower blocks stitched together.

Maintenance

This has nothing to do with stitching, but I cleaned the sewing machine of lint and grease. 

I wound a set of bobbins. I sorted out reels of thread and set aside bent pins for next year's 'Hari Kuyo' festival in Asakusa where broken pins and needles are stuck into a big block of tofu.

Storage

I sorted the leftover fabric pieces from the baby quilt-making and put them back in storage in my stash. The picture shows the unsorted pieces!

All in all, it's been a productive week.