Blog — lauhala hat

Wow, this month turned out to be eventful as things opened up from COVID-19 restrictions. Especially with Merrie Monarch and Earth Day. While I still generally wear masks while out in the world, it was strange but nice to see friends' full faces again. First off, the Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona weaving conference has been scheduled for September and registration packets became available. This year it will be held at the Outrigger in Keauhou a.k.a "the Old Kona Surf."  The hotel is on the verge of a much needed major renovation, but the pool has a slide. This year...

I stopped by Kimura's Lauhala Shop the other day to pick up our coffee. Yes, I buy our coffee from a lauhala store. We drink 100% Kona Coffee. It may be considered premium coffee, but it tastes great "black" and we love supporting local agriculture. Also, the natural caffeine levels in fresher coffee makes it more cost effective and convenient, IMHO, as one doesn't have to drink as much to get the same wake up kick in the morning. Kimura's prices are very reasonable. The coffee doesn't travel far from farm to roaster to their store. I digress... Stopped by for...

These pictures were taken over the past weeks and during my visits at Māʻona Community Garden.   I almost always forget to take "before" pictures.  The picture (above left) is an "after" picture but one would never know we actually thinned the puhala. The above right picture is the underside and one can see the stubs of branches we cut from the trunk.  It had been so tightly packed with branches that very little ventilation was causing the leaves to rot before truly drying.  The picture below is some but not all of the green waste. With devastating invasive species such as...

These are just a tiny sample of what's out there in cyberspace.  I just happened upon and enjoyed them. Thought you might too. This one is of Michele Zane-Faridi of Hana Hou in Hilo with one of her haumana.  They show and talk about gathering lauhala.  Looking at the thorns and the bugs, it'll help one understand the time consuming preparation of lauhala. And how just any dried leaf will not do.  Cleaning and caring for the puhala is vital.  Visiting Michele and Shadi (her daughter) at Hana Hou has been inspirational during these COVID19 lock down times since the Ka...

Not in the socio-political sense... Papale are literally like snowflakes.  No two are exactly alike.   One can try to make a copy of a certain papale, it is pretty much impossible to ulana two identical papale.  The materials are actual natural plant materials prepared and ulana by human hands.  Although skilled and experienced weavers can have consistent tension and technique, they are still human beings and not machines.  Each papale is as unique as an individual snowflake.  From far away, snowflakes look alike but magnified under a microscope each is incredibly unique. A while back my FIL sent us a...