After this much Sashiko, hand stitching, what would you feel? Accomplishment? Satisfaction? As much as I enjoy the achievement at the end of stitching, to be honest, the strongest feeling is “a Sense of Loss”. Therefore, I prepared another fabric for Sashiko as if it wasn’t a big accomplishment.
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I occasionally receive a question asking how I can repeat the same movement of stitching for hours. It is interesting as I do not have the answer for that, yet it is true that I even feel “uncomfortable” when I do not have a chance to hold a needle for a day. This is the reason I say Sashiko’s Principal exists in “Ordinary”. It is similar to the uncomfortableness after sleeping without brushing teeth. It is similar to having bread in the morning – we never get completely tired of bread (it is good to have a choice – but we keep eating it).
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Sashiko “can” be the Art. However, please do not follow those superficial teachings to make Sashiko as Art while ignoring the stories behind it. I want a culture where we can enjoy bread so casually – not fantasize about the bread & celebrate the Art of eating bread. Sashiko is merely stitching, and therefore Sashiko is more than just stitching.
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「刺し子の何が楽しいの？」という問いはこれまで山ほど聞いてきたし、「よくそんなに長時間同じこと（運針）ができるね」と褒め言葉なのか呆れられてるのか判別つかない言葉も頂き続けています。うん。正直なところ、自分でも不思議なのです。私自身、明確に答えを持っていないから。
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ただ、味方を少し変えると説明はできるのです。「毎朝お味噌汁でよく飽きないね」とか、「ジョギングの何が楽しいの？」とか、似たような問いは刺し子以外でも存在します。「針を一日持たないと何か気持ち悪い」という感覚は、歯を磨かないまま寝てしまった後に感じる違和感というか嫌な感じに似ています。
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この感覚の共通点は「日常に落とし込んでいるかどうか」だと思っています。刺し子を日常に落とし込めていないから駄目だという話ではなく、刺し子はきっと本来日常の針仕事だったわけで、刺し子を日常とする気軽な方法が存在するはずなのです。長年刺し子を見てきた経験から、それが運針だろうなと思い、2017年から刺し子の運針を教えています。
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運針で一番大切になることは「リズム」です。針目を揃える為のリズムもそうですが、同時にバイオリズム的な意味でのリズムも大切です。リズムを日本語にすると「調子」。一緒なのです。調子が良い時と悪い時がありますが、刺し子も針目が揃う時と揃わない時があります。
あって良いのです。それも全て含めて受け入れることができるのが日本的な素晴らしさで、刺し子はその素晴らしさを具現化したものだと思っています。この「日常」の楽しさが多くの人に伝われば良いなと思っています。刺し子において運針は目的ではなく手段なのです（時にそれが入れ替わることもありますが）。
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2024-05-12 22:03:09
Beautiful! Interesting to watch the progression of the stitching. I would’ve thought you’d start in the middle and work your way out to the edges. Thank you for sharing this journey 🌻
I ❤️ what you’re doing and saying. I don’t think you’re alone in when you say you feel a sense of loss on completion to a big project. When I’ve spent alot of time creating and it comes to an end, I miss it and wish it hadn’t finished. It’s knowing when to stop is also hard but experience has taught me that the feeling of loss is temporary and remembering what I’ve learnt makes me start another project. Love your posts as they are spoken from the heart.
Beautiful. I am always at a loss after completing a piece, I become whole with the piece, and it s my constat companion and thoughts and action until it is completed. i
Excellent analogies and I love the time lapse video of your stitching.❤️
👏🏽✨🙌🏽
I do miss my stitching when it’s done. I try to always have another ready or started to lessen my sense of loss
I often stop stitching for a day or two when I’m close to the end just to keep it with me a bit longer. Same with good books. Thank you for showing the progression of your stitching. And for your teachings.
I feel the loss in my hands and body. The need to make a physical change of focus can be wrenching alongside the joy of making.
I never framed it that way, but I too feel a sense of loss when I finish a quilt.
🙏🏼🪷🧵🪡
I very much relate to feeling a sense of loss when I finish a project. The joy for me is in the process, the journey. The finished product is my goal, but it’s not the reason why I create. The process is. ❤
Wonderful work …
I do not stitch as much as you but even already I feel strange if I do not have a have a stitching project to take with me somewhere, even to the point of picking up an ‘emergency’ hanafukin for if I need to travel but have not had chance draw myself a project to work on. I feel strange if I am in a state where I “cannot” stitch
Beautiful
😍😍😍