Just before I left, I ordered some threads from Rebecca, and along with my order came a beautiful lilac temari and a Temari Addict coffee mug. It was a lovely surprise and I'm excited to see this type of pattern 'in person'. It's a variation of a swirl pattern, and if you click the image you can see the detail in the stitching. Thanks Rebecca!
My holiday lasted only 4 nights but was amazing. I could have quite happily spent another month there, but 'normal' life must keep going. Here is a picture of the cabin where I stayed. It is pretty much just a bed with a roof, and a little porch with a couple of chairs. I spent most of my time sat on the porch stitching temari and reading.
I ended up reading two novels and stitching 4 temari. I had the balls already made, so all I needed to do was stitch. I didn't take any patterns, books or instructions with me. My theory was that I needed to spend time being unstructured, and this applied to temari as well. So......using nothing but my head, I stitched a C8, JD, Kiku and another JD:
My aim was not to be too structured, not to be overly concerned with precision. The balls were ones from when I first started making temari and not very round, the marking wasn't very precise, and hence the stitching was not as exact as it could have been. BUT.......I stitched for the pure joy of it and had the best time. I didn't debate the colours, I just picked them. I tried not to thing tooooo much about the what/where/how's, and just take an idea and put it on the ball. And I think, overall, the results aren't too bad. I particularly like the pale purple one with the pink/green/yellow stitching. I'm going to re-do it with a slight variation on the obi part, and a bit more precision!
When I got home, I found out that the ball I sent to my Grandma had been shown around, and could I please make one as a 21st gift for another family member. Serendipitously, the colours requested were the colours I was already using on a ball, the pattern worked nicely, and so I think this one will fly south as a gift. It is done in Kyo rayons, which adds that extra element of special to the ball - perfect for a special gift. This is it here:
To top it off, I received my New Years GITS from Sue S in the mail. Looking at the brown cardboard box has nearly driven me to insanity, and it's only been 24 hours. Anyone who knows me can tell you that insatiable curiosity is a major part of my personality, for better and for worse. And when you link that with impatience, well....you get the idea! The fact that I not only have a temari that I cannot see, have no idea what colour it is, what pattern it is, and that it has been made just for me, as well as giving me a specific date that I have to WAIT for..... it's driving me nuts!! I have hidden it in my temari room, behind the books, so that I cant see it. Hopefully that will make it easier!!
I hope everyone has a happy holiday time filled with good cheer and happiness.
