darkening of kakishibui as it ages

[msthimble]

Dear Kakishibui enthusiasts,

Do I understand that kakishibui dyed yarn or cloth darkens as it ages?  If this is the case, would it be correct to think that given enough time, all kakishibui dyed cloth willl ventually become dark brown???  That doesn'6 sound correct- can someone explain, please?  Thank you!

msthimble

[Chris]

Do I understand that kakishibui dyed yarn or cloth darkens as it ages?  If this is the case, would it be correct to think that given enough time, all kakishibui dyed cloth willl ventually become dark brown???  That doesn'6 sound correct- can someone explain, please?  Thank you!

Here's the way it was explained to me......The visible color change is pretty much complete at about 2 years.  The majority of that change is in the first 6 months.  After the 2 years, it continues to darken for the life of the article, but at an extremely slow rate - very minute changes.  If a light and dark pattern is dyed into a cloth (using sun to make the pattern), that that difference is permanent as the exposed tannin always has that much of a head-start and the lighter areas never "catch up".  Personally, I haven't made anything that is old enough to really test the theory.  My oldest pieces are 4 years old and are significantly darker than when I made them.  I do have a sakabukuro (bag for sake making) that was probably made in the 1950's and it is pretty dark.  But then, it had a fresh application of kakishibu (laying down a whole new layer of tannin) for the light to react with.  So, the bottom line is that all my research said that the color change really levels off after about 2 years.

Any one else have any thoughts on this?