July Kitsuke

I finally got a chance to wear this semi-custom pink ro komon with a kikyo design. Honestly, I don't own very many obi that I think are a decent match in color and style for this kimono, so I went with an all pale color ensemble by using this lavender hakata obi and mint accessories.

The only bright color in the ensemble are the teal zori. I had to throw in a little curve ball.

As an extra touch, I wore this cute uchiwa kanzashi. I figured better now since July is almost over. ^_^

Thanks for looking!

Yabane and Kikyo Yukata

I said no new yukata this year... I failed myself... (^-^*)

Most of the designs from my favorite sellers this year have been too bold for me, but this one struck a chord with my sensibilities. Oh, and there's kikyo on it...

I think I may pair it with my kingyo hanhaba obi. This yukata is nearly monochromatic and doesn't pack much of a punch, but that obi sure does! Without seeing them side by side in the same light, it's hard to tell just yet if the colors will be ok together, but since they play off orange tones, they may be a decent match.

Tea ceremony with Dr. Sachiko Matsushita

On Saturday, we had a special tea ceremony class led by Urasenke master Dr. Sachiko Matsushita. Matsushita-sensei actually founded our group (The Way of Tea in Tennessee) back in 2008. She returned for a visit this past week. I was so lucky to be able to learn from her! I wish I had a better picture of Sachiko-sensei's kimono and obi. She is currently living in China and could not bring her own kimono with her, so she borrowed these from another member - but that other person did not have any undergarments - so Sachiko-sensei wore the kimono without a nagajuban. The kimono itself is one that the untrained eye may not recognize as beautiful - or expensive. It's an asa komon with a kasuri weave - truly a splendid piece! The obi is a bingata dyed design - gorgeous! Even without proper undergarments, she wore it with the elegance that I can only hope to attain with as many years of wearing kimono as she has!

Kentaro-sensei, Sachiko-sensei, and myself

Ichigo daifuku and blueberry daifuku prepared by Kentaro-sensei's wife

I will hopefully have some other pictures to add to this post later!

UPDATE 7/21 - Finally, I have more pictures! There's a few kitsuke pictures and then just ones of tea ceremony. (My husband took these from the chair where he was propped up; he had surgery only a few days before but was determined to make it to the class!)

May and June Kitsuke Dump

I haven't posted any kitsuke pictures for a while, but I have been taking them! (Note: some of these pictures are sideways. While I righted the images before I uploaded them, Blogger keeps putting them the wrong direction. Go figure...)

At the very end of May, I wore this ensemble: a grey hitoe komon with water design and raspberry susuki and dewdrop design nagoya obi. I chose blue accessories to play on the water theme:

In the middle of June, we did one of our monthly "basic" tea ceremony classes. (We do demonstrations of tea ceremony for beginners, and if time allows, we do extra practice to hone our skills for our next class with our sensei.) I wore a green sha komon with ivy leaves and a cream fukuro obi with kikyo design. I used pink accessories in this kitsuke.

 My husband took some pictures of me while I was performing (these are from later in the ceremony):

Picking up the second chawan (tea bowl)

Cleaning the chawan

Adding matcha to the chawan

Putting extra water back in the kama (kettle)

Whisking the matcha

At the end of June, I was a guest at Anime Blues Con with my group Tsuki no Ie Okiya. We had a VIP meet and greet to attend, so we all wore yukata. I chose my favorite one, black with kingyo design, and a cream sha hanhaba obi with silver lamé.

It's not in the pictures, but I also wore a tonbo obikazari. In the musubi picture, you can also see the uchiwa I carried.

I will try to upload more kitsuke pictures from this summer!

Anime Blues Con 4

June 20-22 was Anime Blues Con 4. My henshin group, Tsuki no Ie Okiya, was lucky enough to be on the guest list this year! We did an ozashiki panel as well as a Q&A. We were also interviewed for a documentary that a local convention goer was making, and we had several wonderful photographers get some amazing images of us.

Here are the best of the images (scroll to see more pictures - click for full size on Flickr):

And this is the interview for the documentary:

Several guests also made some videos. While they're aren't very clear or complete, it may still give you an idea of how our performances are done: