Yarn 'art' for tea lovers

[Noonie]

Was wondering if you can share some ideas on what sort of yarn-inspired art or creations would be useful/desired by tea people.

My sister loves needlepoint, knitting, etc., and she recently decided to focus her crafts on all things Asian. I told her that there may be some uses in the tea community (even if it's just as art on the wall). I told her I would reach out to fellow tea-chatters to find out: a) what can she create that can be 'used' in the tea ceremony (or associated with tea storage, displays, etc.), and b) what pictures would be useful for her to use as references for her own creations (i.e., tea ware such as yixings or kyusus, cha wan, etc.).

Any other thoughts you have that may help her?

She's not a sales person at all, and is only doing this for passion so she's not the type to join Etsy and similar sites. Instead she will sell her art locally, but I also have 'personal interest' in this as I can get her to make me something cool for my upcoming birthday

To get an idea of what she has created so far, you can check out her site:

http://craftykitsune.wix.com/craftykitsune

[debunix]

Hmmm....I've recently bought some cloth cocktail napkins to fill a need for a little something absorbent to put under my teacups at work--my bamboo coaster protected the desk from scratches but not from minor spills. In my attempts to find something nicer than cheap paper napkins and more appropriate than larger napkins for formal dining, I looked at a lot of doilies--beautiful things, and entirely functional, but not so Asian, perhaps?

[hopeofdawn]

Something I've been thinking would be a neat art project, just from looking at the tea stains the cloths that I put under my teaware acquire--it might be really neat to have napkins/small doily type pieces woven out of natural fibers/colors, with abstracted designs in them that are meant to take up/deepen the color of the tea stains. So a bit like watching the crackles on teaware darken, only in cloth. Not quite sure how this would look in execution, but it might be fun to try, if your sister was so inclined.

So far I've only found white napkins, which inevitably look soiled/dirty once they're stained, and darker colors, which hide stains but can also overwhelm the teaware, and are often polyester-type blends, so not very wabi sabi, you know?

[Noonie]

I also thought of a replacement for napkins for beneath the tea ware...though hadn't thought of a pattern that would improve/change due to stains. I'll ask her to make me one and will report on how it goes...

I like the angle on the idea, different.