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Wednesday 24 June 2009

週に一度の手毬の会では

だいたい週に一度、メンバーで集まっています。
もちろん手毬作りがメインですがもうひとつのお楽しみはランチ。
みんなで持ち寄ったプレートが机の上にぎっしり。
どれもこれも手作りで美味しいものばかり。





気の置けない仲間とおしゃべりしながら過ごす時間はとても素敵なもの。
もっともっと仲間が増えるといいなぁと思っています。


もうすぐマーケットもあることだし口だけではなく手も動かさなくては。。。




Monday 22 June 2009

Japanese Cosmo books

I got my first 3 Cosmo books on Friday.

Oh My GOODNESS... they are lovely!!! I can't decide what I want to do first. I have been working on a translation sheet for English - Japanese to help with interpreting the patterns and also got a copy of Barb Suess' Translation Cheat Sheet which she kindly had posted on the Temari Challenge group. I have decided a mixture of both will be what I end up referring to but it will take a little more work. I highly recommend looking on eBay for listings of the Cosmo books as they usually have sample pages displayed. I can't quite decide what the 'It' factor is that Japanese temari have but what ever it is I want to work it out for use on my own temari.

The remaining 4 Cosmo books will take about another month to come from Amazon.jp - which is a good thing because I have plenty to keep me busy until then...

I can't wait to share my new books next week with the girls.

June Temari 101 - It's a wrap

Our 101 class finished today. :(

Several newly minted temari addicts join the throng :)





We had a great time stitching our Sundays away over the last few weeks and learned 4 techniques. Of course the cups of tea and cookies were nice too.




I was most impressed when one of our ladies produced some patterns she had printed from Temarikai (C8 Lotus) that she wanted desperately to try her hand at making. Gladly we had already learned the stitches required for this (Spindle and Kiku) so all that is left is to mark out the ball in a C8 and place the additional lines. I think I will need to check in with the class in a few weeks to see how they are all progressing. We hope to get together in July for another stitch session.



When we all compared our finished balls it was interesting to see the subtle differences between them due to our choices of colour.

All said I think the group did marvellously with their new skills and I ended our sessions with a link list to map out the best places (on the www) to visit for further inspiration.

I really enjoyed presenting the classes and look forward to starting the next round. I am already lining potential victims/addicts/students up for the next class.

In other news:
My favourite cheap and cheerful perle 5 cotton thread has come to spotlight. 50g balls of Milford Satin in 29 colours (including 5 variegated) are in stock and yes I have all of them. Now I know that 29 colours is not a huge variety - unlike DMC or Anchor - but for practice balls it is fantastic value as you can purchase a ball for about $6 and it goes on forever.

Friday 12 June 2009

First Big Temari



I recently purchased the instructions for this temari from Barb's site. I believe it is very reasonably priced given the wealth of information that comes in the file. When I read through the file I was amazed the mari was so big (42cm Circ). It worried me a little so I put this aside for a while but decided to start this week.


The largest temari I usually make is hand sized (approx 25-27 cm Circ) so I found this one quite a challenge to wrap and due to its' weight (even with a Styro core) when it popped out of my hands it really raced across the floor. It took less time than I expected to make and I was surprised how quickly it got wrapped and marked. If you can't understand how to do a C10 project I can recommend you try this. The instructions are really clear and there are plenty of references to the shape of the faces you should be seeing on the ball. I can't tell you what was louder, the rain outside or the sound of all the pennys dropping.


I needed to give myself time off from stitching during this project (with deep heat on my right arm - I am a temari addict but couldn't stitch through the pain) but I really like how it turned out.


My poor husband suggested perhaps this is one to say goodbye to - not sure if it is the pink colours or the fact it is so big and there is no place to put it in our house. He was a little perturbed by the sight of the next one getting wrapped when he woke this morning.
The second one pictured below is in purples maybe I will make a third in either the suggested colours or maybe in reds and oranges.

In other news..... I have purchased the Japanese Language Cosmo books 1, 2 and 3 from Ebay. These should arrive just in time to be a birthday prezzie to myself. Yay!! Also I got a great deal on Amazon.jp for the Cosmo books 4, 5, 6, and 7. They should be here a few weeks later as they were quoted to ship in 2-4 weeks.
Rebecca

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Naoko's Temari


Photos of Naoko's recent temari.
She shared these today when we met for our weekly stitch.

Naoko always amazes our group with her beautiful colour selections.
Not too sure of the source for the patterns on all the above temari, but they are stunning. The kiku pattern below can be found on temarikai's site and is a free pattern.
We all love it but Naoko is the first brave one to try it out.


The temari below was inspired by a spindles at a pole pattern from temarikai. Rebecca was the first to stitch it and everyone loved it (of course it is a beautiful design) and so the next time our group met she had copies for everyone. Check out temarikai for really lovely temari patterns.

Monday 8 June 2009

Bin Temari???

This is a picture I came across in an article about temari whilst cruising the web this week. Click the link to see more about Bin Temari. They are just beautiful... can you work out how they do it?? There is an interview here which will come up in translated English but if you read Japanese it might make more sense if you return it to Japanese.
Also a fellow Aussie temari maker, Rod from Sydney, has a great blog you could look at in which he shows Japanese textiles he produces including Kumihimo. Rod's blog is really informative and there is the most amazing braided poem in one of his posts. It took my breath away.

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Review of New Temari Book and Recommendations

I am always curious about books on Temari and today I received my latest installment.
The book pictured below. I would not recommend this book too highly as it only has 10 patterns which are then varied in size, colour etc. It seems to have been written by some chaps that have read several books about temari but aren't actually temari artists themselves. In addition some of the terms used are not standard 'temari' language and in my honest opinion I would rather have not spent the money on it.



This may seem a little harsh but in terms of value for money every other temari book I own was better. In defence of this book it did show scope for practical applications for putting the temari to use... but it also included a good deal of bead work on the projects... I guess this is where the contemporary part of the title fits in. Avoid the above book but please try these books written by the authors listed below as they are far more inspiring.

Barb Suess, Diana Vandervoort, and Mary Wood (click the links here to go to their websites to purchase books)


In particular Barb's book is the easiest to learn from as it is written in the most easy to comprehend manner and is accompanied by excellent diagrams. Diana's books (she has written several) have a fairly broad scope and are loaded with directions. Mary's book shows techniques rather than exact patterns - you learn the technique and use your imagination to make your own patterns so whilst this is informative I wouldn't expect most people to learn from scratch with this one.


If I had to choose one and only one it would be Barb's book! She holds your hand through every design step and guides you along with tips from start to finish.
I have no commercial agreement with any author listed here in this post and these are my own opinions based on my experience with the books mentioned. I do own copies of all the books reviewed.

I own almost every book published in English (on Temari that is) and soon I will start collecting Japanese ones (please Finance Gods let the AUD rise against the Yen!!!!) I already have a list as long as my arm and just have to wait for the right time to buy....

Temari Class

Our new class is almost here.... it begins on June 7th and we called it Temari 101. The very basics of this craft will be taught over 3 weeks (approx six hours in total).

I have put together a starter kit for students attending with all kinds of goodies (some of which can prove challenging to find in Perth). The emails have been flying, instructions printed and mud maps have been made. We will explore contruction of the mari and learn 4 designs. I hope to post pictures later.

If you live in Perth and are interested in attending a future class email me for details.