It didn't feel finished

Sometimes you think you finished a project only to realise it is still tapping on the back of your brain. I seem to get that a lot. I made this hair pin a while back but it just didn't feel done.

I added a small swarovski faux pearl and now it feels more done. I had these left over from my phase of making the wrapped bead rings a few years ago.


What do you think?

Redo of a few

I recently posted a pink Asanoha temari hairstick with a grey tassel. You might recall I wasnt sold on the whole tassel look, I decided it was the colour, it just seemed to heavy. I have some bead caps so I that decided to make another but this time with the base thread. It looks much better now. What do you think?

Also in the last post I wrote about the S16 stitched on 4 paths that I wanted to skip a path on to see how it looked. This time I used a double thread of #12 Oren Bayan cotton that I got on sale last year. It is actually not too bad in terms is thickness for mini temari, seems just a little thicker than single strand floss.

IMHO It doesn't look as flash on the small size base. Either that or it needed a more contrasting base to make the negative space pop. It looked a bit blah (one colour) when I was finished so I added a row of single thread on two of the paths. It seems a bit lacey now, like laced feathering on a wyandotte chicken... Maybe it is just me. O.o

Another hairstick

That little stash of mini bases I have amassed keeps calling to me. Today I have one to share that is stitched with a double strand of embroidery floss. In Japanese books it is called #25 and in English it is just floss or stranded cotton. I had this left over from my stint of embroidering some tee shirts for the kids at Christmas a few years ago. I like the idea of using the silk thimble thread but it is really thin (even thinner than the wrapping thread). This temari was marked by eye, the design is a S16 and is a pretty basic uwagake chidori kagari.

I have done this on much larger temari bases and thought it might be problematic on such a small size.  When I started this one I consciously decided I wanted to leave one of the four paths off the ball to see what it looked like on this size.  I have done this with the larger versions I've stitched and I love how it works. A square forms at the pole and who doesn't love a square on a circle right? I want Cheezels now!* Actually the tricky part turned out to be using the double strand because there is not enough room to groom with my tekobari while keeping hold of the base and needle.

This one again is on the plain stick type temari. I really must find my awl because getting these onto a thick pole is very difficult. I purchased the good beads that look like a temari some time ago but never opened the package. When I opened them recently I noticed one was broken so I popped the teeny red base from my stash inside it and put a headpin through them to lock it together again.

I think it might need one more thing on this hairstick because two balls together just looks a bit wrong in my hair. It might just be the angle of the photo though as it doesn't look strange in the top image. Mr W took the picture of the back of my head and we couldn't quite communicate the shot I hoped for. This was the best of the 4 that he could be bothered to take for me. Teenagers! Yep my gorgeous baby is now a teenager and has already perfected the surly attitude... And in under a week no less. :)


* Cheezles are an Aussie snack that are only slightly older than me. I loved them growing up and Mr W loves them too, they are a cheesy, salty, unhealthy snack. You can pop them on the ends of your finger as they are ring shaped. When I was a kid they had a jingle that said 'you can't put a square snack in a round hole'.

No it's not dejavu

Last October the ladies at my temari class requested a date for another class in February 2012. They liked a temari I had taken to show and decided it would be great to try out. No problem, I really enjoyed making this design and for once was really happy with the colours and how they turned out.

In late November someone agreed how lovely the temari was and I sold that ball at the Hinata Gallery, small problem, but not to worry, I took a few pictures before the buyer took the temari away and this week I have been making some replacements.

Of course it has been restitched (above) in the original purple colour-way but I've also made one in shades of slate blues. The blue tones are lighter in real life, more frosty looking I guess. Just what I need in such hot weather.

I really love how this one turned out (is it wrong to be in love with your own temari?) but this one really does make me feel happy all over.

My ITAD logo ball entry at Flickr

This has sure been a busy week. Mr W started back at school and I've been to visit my gorgeous niece and nephews several times. There have been cupcakes and cookies baked, and we even had one of Mr W's school mates over for the whole day on Saturday when (amongst other fun stuff) we made animal face soap.

All this extra activity has put me a bit behind on my temari stitching... but I finally got my ITAD ball completed and added to the Flickr group today. There are some other really nice temari which have been added by others... click over and have a look, remember to vote for your favorite.

Kiku (Chrysanthemum) Temari for Japan

Here is a picture of the temari I am sending to Japan as part of the Talk Temari Kiku for Japan project. I have the other pole to complete, so I hope to post it in the morning.

I think that this style of Kiku is my favourite, I have trouble adding many rows near the top of the stitch... I always forget to lay the first row down a little loosely so I could only manage four rows on this occasion. I wanted more petals so I added another section of Kiku petals underneath the main design using the same Chidori kagari stitching. I was thinking of the type of flower with a tight center and additional rows of petals surrounding it - see the image below.  The Obi design is very simple on this one, I feel like this is a time to quietly honour tradition instead of show something flashy to take away from the design at the poles. I used 4 shades of Cosmo thread (185, 186, 187 and 188) and Rainbow Gallery ND4 for the markings on a pale cream ball.

As I have been stitching I've meditated on my desire for a prompt recovery for all the damaged cities and towns, I stitched my strength into this temari. I've prayed for everyone who have lost their family or friends, I stitched my love and compassion into this temari. I focused on the symbol of the rising sun, which is featured on the Japanese Flag, and stitched my belief and optimism that the sun will rise again for the nation of Japan.


Image from: Mze Photos



Thrilled all over

I have a few temari UFO's kicking around but my arm has been too sore to settle to them. Here is my latest temari. I really enjoyed working on this one and just love how it turned out. It is inspired by a pattern in Cosmo 4 p24 #6 (pattern p52). I changed the colours a little from the original ball because I wanted it to really pop with rainbow brightness. After I stitched it I was unsure if I had got the rainbow colours right... despite just coming out of winter here I haven't seen any rainbows for a while.

I really like this eye catching cheery little C8 fellow. I think I have 3 all time favourite temari that I have made so far (I mean those I worked out on my own rather than asking for help on) the other two are.

This one is a C10 and it is almost an all over design. My other favorite is below, a S16.

I'm sure I see a theme... they all have blue on them. I've stitched the last two many times, and I think I'll make the top one again in graduated shades of colour to see the effect.  Hmmm what colour might I use? Can you guess?

Till next time... just keep stitching!

Pattern play part two

I've been stitching my heart out lately but there's not too much I can show right now.  This week I have been playing with patterns again. I have been trying out different colours on a wrapped bands pattern. This is a fun activity and I learn a lot every time I do this. I've done four balls in this design and while I think I prefer the blue and red one, I can't really place the other three.

Which one do you prefer?

I have also been playing with one of my favorite patterns from Cosmo 1. I've mixed it up a bit and am plugging in different colours to see how they look. I really like the shape formed at the pole area. I can't say that I have ever seen this shape before... could I have stumbled on something new? Not too likely, with all the hundreds of thousands of temari that have been made over the years since the first temari was stitched, I am sure someone else has stitched this before. I've never seen it though.

Which colours do you like best?

This last set are to temari I made this week working from a pattern I stitched for my JTA submission (the red one) last year. Please excuse the stitching on the pink one, it is a bit wonky... I was watching a German movie while stitching this one and as I don't speak the language I was mostly reading the subtitles... when will I learn that I can't 'watch' a subtitled movie and stitch temari at the same time? I might go back and try to groom out that flat side which I hadn't noticed being so bad until I saw this photo.

The more I play at making temari the more obvious it is that selecting colours to use on a project can be harder than working out the pattern when written in Japanese. Sometimes the colours I select are bang on perfect and other times what seems like a nice combination in my hand looks hideous on the temari. I have grabbed a bunch of lovely pale colours only to see them turn out all faded out on the surface of my temari. The 'pop' factor can be somewhat elusive. Occasionally I've grabbed random colours that don't seem to match only to see them sync up on the ball like magic.  Also interesting is that the same set of threads can look wonderful on one pattern and terrible on another. This is why I really like the exercise of trying out several colours on a pattern.

Preparing for ... Christmas in July

Well being July what better time to look forward to Christmas? Last week I posted about the 27 balls I had wrapped in Christmas colours and here are a few of the photos.

As you can see I am working in Green, Red, White, Gold and Silver.

When I have completed these balls I plan to make more in 'Non-traditional' colours like Purple, Blue.

The photo of 3 temari show my latest efforts. The top left temari is the ball I was working when I wrote the last post. The bottom one I made whilst trying to keep my fingers from freezing watching my Son's soccer training and the right ball was made today. Although my boys say "Oh no! Not temari again..." stitching this one inspired my Son's little buddy to make a teeny temari today which we attached to a mobile dangle for his backpack.

It is pouring again outside so it looks good for stitching more temari tomorrow.....

A gift for Amelia

This temari has been made by Rebecca for our friend's new baby. It has a foam core which was split in half and hollowed out then filled with bells, a coin and a note.

The bells are for joy. The money is for prosperity.

The notepaper has Amelia's name written on it and a wish for her good health, happiness and longevity throughout her life.

The temari was wrapped in 3 pinks and then divided into

S16 in silver.

The stitching is done in 3 shades of pinks and purple. The obi is made of 12 wraps in 3 colours then overstitched with the net design.

While I stitched the design I filled my mind with the good wishes written on the note paper. I really think it turned out beautifully.

The pattern is based on two projects from Barb Suess's book.