Shown today are indigo dyed cotton yarns to use in the weaving of Kurume kasuri, a very distinctive form of ikat from Kurume on Kyushu Island that is characterized by its bold, geometric designs: white-on-blue.

These warp yarns, when rolled into balls as they are here, make beautiful objects: each is many, many meters long and are all the yarns are tied by hand before dyeing.

Last week I offered one for sale on my website; I will be offering these, too, in time.  If you find that you just can’t live without one, don’t hesitate writing me, I’ll be happy to make sure you get a good one.  The largest one is 11″ or 28 cm in diameter and in addition to the stark white-on-dark blue dye on this large ball, there are also some areas of a pale blue color, called asagi.

Have a look at a YouTube video showing some of the dyeing process of Kurume kasuri, here.

They’re really beautiful, aren’t they?  I believe they are from the 50s or 60s–possibly later.