Kitsuke (chocho)

[aimeekitty]

I went to lunch with Mitch at the Curry House and then got some mochi from Fugetsudo. I got my two favorite mochi from them,... the sakura (wrapped in leaf) and shigure (the one that looks like a neon green cloud). Neither last very long so I sat and ate them by the fountain.


Then off to kitsuke class! This is the first time I've had time to go in a long time.
some sakura at the Buddhist temple where I take kitsuke class:


That's the seven treasures boat, right?


Today I brought my formal butterfly kimono(which I've never worn before), this sakura and bunny haneri and my much loved gold fukuro obi. Sensei said that the butterfly kimono was very formal, a five crest(mon) irotomesode. So basically the married-woman's version of a furisode. I especially love this one since the five crests are all butterflies, too. And you can see gold butterflies in the waves at the hem of the kimono too. Something cool about this one is that it has a faux second white kimono attached to it. So the look is that at the collar, hem and sleeves, you see another layer of white, to look like you're wearing three layers instead of the normal two. This makes it more formal, too!
I'm lucky, this one is a really great size for me. You can tell by how far it reaches on my wrist and the ohashori is fine.

Sensei fixed my juban so that it has the right loops in the back to help me keep my collar back and straight. That simple loop on the juban does SO much to help the overall look of the kimono once you have everything on.
haha. please excuse my tired face, this is after me practicing putting on the kimono and obi about 3 times.


here's a closeup of the collar area so you can see what I mean with the faux multilayer outer kimono:


She also taught me a new obi bow today. This obi bow is called niju dai (sorry to Japanese speakers, I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling.) It basically means "double fold obi". It's a very formal obi bow which can be used for things as formal as weddings. (worn again, by married women). It looks a lot like the nagoya taiko-obi but a bit different. The cute thing is that she says it means "good things will happen again" because of the double fold. (get it, it folds again, so good things again?) She taught me how to create it using my obi aid.

I didn't stay for the full tea ceremony this time because it was getting late, but it was a nice relaxing day. Kuniko-san came today and had made some new kanzashi, so lovely!

Sensei gave me two of these Yoku Moku butter-vanilla cigarette cookies. DUDE. they are super delicious. It is a good thing that I don't have like 5 boxes of them, because I would EAT THEM ALL RIGHT NOW.


Tonight Mitch and I are staying a bit out of town for two nights to check out a housing area we're interested in, so I won't be able to deal with much until later this week, thanks!