A staple of the Japanese household since the 9th century, the humble Tenugui is a hand-dyed rectangular cloth (13 x 35") equally at home in the pocket, as it is in the kitchen or the workshop. Ours are hand-dyed in Japan using "chusen", a traditional technique in which the dye penetrates the cloth rather than sitting on its surface, leaving the pattern visible on both sides and the hand remarkably soft. Each pattern carries its own name and meaning. In the wabi-sabi spirit, the edges are left unhemmed, so expect some slight fraying, and the character that comes with it.

Yoroke-jima translates to "staggering stripes," from the verb yorokeru, meaning to stumble or sway—and the pattern is exactly that: wavy, slightly unsteady. It's one of many striped variations common in the Edo period.