Liziqi lives an enchanted life in the mountains of China, where she is surrounded by various adorable creatures like puppies and newborn lambs. Her videos on YouTube show Liziqi making traditional Chinese foods, teas and crafts. The videos are beautifully shot and they are very relaxing and enjoyable to watch. So if you find yourself with some rare but definitely well-deserved free time; take a look through her YouTube channel. I recommend a cup of tea and maybe a pet to snuggle with while you watch the wonderland that is Liziqi’s life.
In this video, we watch Liziqui create a wonderfully cozy purple cloak from start to finish, helped along by her adorable baby animals. She starts by sorting through the wool and picking out bits of grass and seeds that have gotten caught in the fibers. She then washes the wool, dries it over hot coals and proceeds to card the wool by hand, a process that requires her to brush a bundle of wool with two combs. The process of wool carding pulls all the fibers straight so that they run in the same direction. Liziqui then spins the wool by hand on a manual spinning wheel, a process that requires practice, skill and a lot of focus and patience. Once the wool is spun, the creative women, accompanied as always by her adorable lamb friend, picks the berries (possibly pokeberries) that she will use to create a natural, purple plant dye. Only once her hanks of spun lambswool yarn have been hand dyed and dried does the process of actually making the fabric of the cloak begin. This process is also time-consuming and very involved.
First she measures out different lengths of yarn to make a crescent shape for the cloak. She then plaits these strands and threads them together at one end. She uses more of her purple wool to stitch the plaits together to create a thick and cozy woollen fabric. After attaching the hood and trimming the tassles, the purple cloak is finally finished and ready to be worn. And of course, it’s ready for Liziqui’s little lamb to snuggle in to for a woolly and warm cuddle with her.
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After picking out burrs and grass from the wool, Liziqui and her lamb helper wash the wool in a wooden tub. The little lambikins is super helpful, nibbling on Liziqui’s beautiful black hair while she stirs the tub.
Liziqui brushes the cleaned wool between two combs to lay the fibres straight in a process called carding.
Liziqui spins the carded white lambswool on a home made spinning wheel.
Using these berries, Liziqui will make a natural plant dye that has a vivid purple color.
During the dyeing process, Liziqui is aided by her little lamb and several puppies.
The purple cloak that Liziqui is making starts out as dozens of strands of yarn that have been draped over a line and cut into a crescent shape so that the artist can plait the strands while visualizing the finished cloak.
Liziqui stitches the woolen plaits together to create a thick and cozy fabric for her purple cloak.
Liziqui tries on her hand crafted cloak for the first time, admiring its dramatic effect in her bedroom mirror.
