WS Journal 6 God's eye charm WS

When I was thinking of a workshop where people could casually and quickly experience ramie, feeling its beauty and pleasant texture, this charm caught my eye.

The core stick is made from the woody part of karamushi stalks, which I had set aside every time I stripped the fibers over the past two years. The fibers of karamushi are located on the inner side of the stalk’s bark, so after stripping, the core remains.

In cultivation, these remnants are usually returned to the soil, but since I currently only harvest wild ramie, I kept them instead of discarding them. As they still had pectin and fiber residue attached, I carefully scraped them clean, washed them, and sterilized them by boiling. This process transformed them into a material with a soft, natural color.

Next, I wrapped karamushi fibers around the core. For the fibers, I used cultivated ramie. The colored ones were dyed using natural plant dyes such as indigo, alder (Alnus firma), and also ramie itself.

The "God's Eye" is said to be a Native American protective charm, but as I wove it with the shimmering, translucent ramie fibers, it began to resemble a star.

In the fifth photo, the centerpiece is a large version made for display. The brownish streaks are not dyed but were selected from fibers that naturally had a reddish hue. Their vivid, intense color stands out. When arranged alongside the others, they resemble the sun and stars in the night sky.