A trip around the block?

The plan for the afternoon had been to visit the Anokhi Hand Printing Museum, but it's is shut on Mondays. So we had to postpone it until tomorrow.  This is where a local guide comes in handy, so in the end we went to visit a Rajesthanie hand weaving and printing workshop.

That's not before driving about cows resting in the street, 

Handbarrows  laddened with fruit and shoppers wandering around.

No matter how mundane life is India it is always colourful 

Stalls spill out all over the 'pavement ', 

Mobile kitchens spring up,

Selling all kinds of snacks- theses are for DIY Bombay mix!

Rising above all is the Summer Palace , Jal Mahal (meaning "Water Palace") is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city, the capital of the state of Rajasthan, India. The palace and the lake around it were renovated and enlarged in the 18th century by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Amber.

As per usual, no site is without hawkers and hassles so.

But what we were keen to see was the block printing.  

Huge padded  print tables are spread out with specially sized pieces of fabric.  Several blocks are use to build up the patterns.

They make it look so easy, but the blocks themselves are a bit heavy and in this case are at least 4 different blocks are needed to create the pattern. It does look as though the block is being ramdomly place down,but the printer 'registers' each block as it is placed onto the fabric.

So the complete pattern has all the different colours in the right place.

Above is the print freshly done and below it is now fixed, strange how the colours alter in the process.

To see more about hand block printing go to Institchescreativetextiles@blogspot.co.uk

Hand knotting rugs is a very time consuming job, and probably not a skill I am going to set out to acquire, but having a little go on someone else's rug wasn't bad!

Just don't get onto the wrong side of him...look at that knife, I can vouch for how sharp it is too.

Once knotted it looks very shaggy and so needs to go and have a comb and cut to make an even pile.

It's amazing how a few snips can turn an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

Despite this extensive shearing there are still stay threads and hairs so the reverse of the rug is singed with a naked flame.  This also had the effect of roughing the bag surface to stop the rug slipping.

Rugs can take months,sometimes years to make, so it's not surprising that they need a good wash on completion. That's what these guys are doing and then the large wooden paddles are used to drive the soapy water out of the pile.  It's then rolled up and stood one its end to drain before being laid out to dry.

Here is a rug already to be admired...and sold!

Wool skeins ready to be used

 The skeins are then made into balls using a swift,  ready to go to the rug maker.  The rugs being made here were just for demonstration as the ones for sale are all made in the rug makers home in the various rural villages.

Lunch was really large because we had been so busy, but when it came it was deliscious, even if we managed to sprinkle the sweet over the curry...

Often the market and roadside sellers use these low strap eatable/ stool affairs.  Here marigolds are being sold for making into garlands.

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The Indian version of a London taxi.

There is always time to stop for a chat in India.

This isn't the market place, this is the main road!

Now matter how slowly you push your barrow of slippers, it's your right to be on the road.

The chaos and noise means that reaching our hotel is a delight,

Isn't it just wonderful?

And to finish the day a refreshing G&T *aaaah*

except for some strange reason Terry felt the urge to do some ironing...