Pretty in Pink

So this is the JD that I mentioned in the previous post. JD stands for Jyouge Douji, and translates to 'concurrent north-south' stitching. It is also know as the"merry go round" stitch, as the stitches zig zag up and down from half of the ball to the other. It is also one of my favourite types of temari to make.


I used the pink coloured Nordic Gold thread from Rainbow Gallery for the marking, and DMC perle #5's for the colours. It was fun and relaxing to stitch these colours.



Also, I just finished wrapping my ball for the Flower Ball Challenge over on the Temari Challenge Yahoo Group. The aim of the challenge is to create a ball stitched with flowers. I have decided to attempt to mark a C10 - it will be my first ever. Hopefully, with time and patience, it will be a successful endeavour. I have prepped a 43.5cm ball on a 5" styro base in nice dark green thread, but I still need to decide on what marking thread to use.


I'm also working on a list of possible flowers. My original idea was to do all Australian native flowers, but I think I will do a combination of my favourites, native and not. There are a few 'must-haves' on my list - Flannel Flowers and Fringed Violets, Serruria and the Giant Waterlily. The Fringed Violets should be interesting - I'll have to use a heavily textured thread to create the fringe. It should be quite effective if I can get it right. I'll try to post regularly about it, so you can see the progress too.

Every cloud has a silver lining...

This last week was a very busy one. I had a botanical drawing class on Saturday, worked the following 6 days, had another botanical drawing class on the next Saturday, and then drove to my old workplace and particpated in a silversmithing workshop. I made the bangle pictured below.

Somehow I also managed to finish off two temari, and nearly finished a third. I completed the temari for the Lunar New Year GITS, but I cant show you a picture of this one yet!

I also decided to do another version of the squares pattern. This time I decided to differentiate the colours by putting stripes of dark purple in between the blue and yellow. I learnt that this makes any slight differences in stitching stand out, but overall it's pretty good.

I'm working on a JD with kiku's on the poles, it's going ok and I'll post a pic of that one in the next couple of days!

Two new additions

It's taken a little bit of time to get these balls done and this blog entry posted as we've had some minor water damage to our carpets and the house is in disarray. I'm not so happy with how these worked up - both seem to be lacking in something, or I havent got the colours quite right. The squares pattern has a few errors on it - which I'm not too worried about as it's the first time I have done the pattern, but the colours are not quite right. It's actually a more purple colour in 'real life', but it still doesnt quite work for me. It still need some metallic embellishment on it. Maybe that will give it a bit of zest.

The second ball is a pattern from Debi A. Debi has some fantastic patterns on her website - Temari Math -go and have a look. I've used these colours on a ball before and they worked really well, however this time they left me feeling a little less impressed. Maybe it was because they were a slightly darker shade.

Not to worry. There are plenty more temari to make, in plenty more colour and pattern combinations. Part of the reason I think I love making temari so much is that there are an infinite numbers of ways to combine colours and patterns, and each one gives a different effect.

My next challenge is to create a ball for my GITS partner for the lunar new year GITS. It will certainly challenge me - the colours I need to use are red, green, white and gold, or somehow incorporate a rabbit into the design, as 2011 is the year of the rabbit. I'll post a pic once my partner has received it. I'm thinking ahead to next year - the year of the Dragon - and an idea is already forming for a pattern....!!!

Kyo Kiku

I thought I'd pop up a pic of my latest ball too. This one is an S12 kiku, and is done in shaded pink Kyo Rayon threads. I'm just starting to work with these threads, and I noted a couple of things about them: They are difficult for me to get a decent photo of due to their incredible shine/lustre. They are also different to handle as they seem to be quite fluid in how they move. And thirdly, they are absolutely beautiful. This picture doesn't do the threads any justice.

Happy days.......

I have recently been on a short holiday to the countryside of Northern New South Wales. It is (to me at least) one of the most beautiful areas of Australia, and luckily only a few hours drive from my house.

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.

Latest creations

It's been a little while since the last post, life has been getting in the way of temari, and the temari that I have made have been intended as gifts, so I couldn't share them until they had been received. The good news is I can share two of them with you. I made the first one while procrastinating about another pattern (which I'm still avoiding). It's an S12 Kiku that now lives with Rebecca in Perth.

This next one is a thankyou present for my grandparents. Grandma kindly shared her stash of wool with me again, and now I have quite a hefty stockpile of yarn-wrap for temari. It is my second attempt at this pattern, and I was happy with how it turned out. I'm now doing this pattern for a third time - with the Japanese kyo rayons in my fav combo of black, white, blue and purple. Hopefully it wont be long before I can get it finished off and post it on here for you to see.

Two out of three aint bad.....

I finished the Kiku I was working on! Not that it was that hard, I just had to sit down for longer than 10 minutes and finish it off. I'm afraid I can't show you what it looks like yet though, it's a present for someone, so after they receive it, I'll post a pic. It actually turned out a little better than I expected, which is always nice. Still a bit of wabi-sabi going on, but it's worked out nicely (I think anyway).

I also decided on a pattern for the GITS. Now I need to choose some colours and stitch it up. That should be fun.

And the pattern a la procrastination - that's the one out of three I didnt get to yet!

The wonders of online shopping, and other recent events.

I love the Internet. It never ceases to amaze me what I can find online. Whether it's a fascinating hobby or craft, interesting, quirky or downright strange facts, or a little bit of retail therapy - I'm always a little bit amazed. Lately I have had the good fortune to come across several of the things I have been searching for.

1. A temari work-basket. I have been searching for "the perfect basket" for ages. I currently have a basket/tote that I am not happy with, and have been exploring other avenues. The basket I have is OK, but if I could find the perfect basket..... It's a really good excuse to use a couple of fat quarters in the most amazing fabric that have been awaiting 'the perfect project' too. Ultimately I wanted a woven basket that was big deep enough to hold my supplies, but not that deep that I would lose things in the bottom, with a dome/bowl shaped removable lid that I could use as a work basket, and preferably a handle to carry it with, but I wasn't sure what sort would suit it. It also had to be roughly the right size. Not too big, not too small. It would be nice if it could be lined with fabric, and sturdy - no flimsy baskets allowed. I was suffering from a near fatal case of Goldilocks syndrome. None of the baskets I found was quite right. So I went from idea to idea and I was just about to start testing a second hand hatbox I had found when I found a set of baskets on Etsy.

I have only just remembered Etsy. It's somewhere I don't tend to go a lot - I'm more of an Ebay girl. But - I remembered Etsy, and I searched for baskets. And now I have these 2 absolutely fabulous baskets. They are the right height and size, the right material, and will look great and hopefully will perform well. I'm a fraction concerned they are not quite strong enough, but will investigate that a bit more. They remind me of hot air balloons. With any luck, the search for the perfect basket can finally be laid to rest, and if not, they look fantastic on the shelf and I'll keep searching - next option is a hatbox - lined with those fat quarters of course!

2. Temari books. Through an online bookshop I have just purchased three more temari books. They are sure hard to find (at the right prices anyway) and even harder to find secondhand (at even better prices). I'm so excited my collection is growing slowly and surely. I have put these back in the box as they are actually a christmas present. These three are English books, two by Diana Vandervoort, and one by M. Ludlow. Nothing puts a smile on my face faster than adding to my bookshelves, and that smile gets bigger if they are temari books.

A big thank you goes to my Grandma in Victoria - who sent up a heap more of her knitting machine wool, and my Grandad - for encouraging her to do so. She has nearly cleaned out her stash, and I was fortunate enough to be the recipient. I have enough wool to see me through ooodles and ooooodles of temari. I cant even begin to figure how many - I'm thinking in the hundreds!!

I have been working on a particular pattern - trying to figure it out, and it has taken me a bit longer than expected. I have to figure it out from photo's and I haven't worked a temari like that before, so I'm doing what I tend to do best - I'm procrastinating. Of course it doesn't help when I work full time, and then I decided to stitch another Kiku pattern at the same time, and then I got the urge to re-arrange the cats bedroom/craft room. On the plus side, "Temari Land" (aka the craft room) now has a mid sized shelving unit to assist with storage, the space is easier to work in, and the cats like having something else to climb on.

So today....hopefully....I will finish the kiku, decide on a pattern for the New Years GITS I am participating in, and begin stitching the pattern I have been procrastinating about. Hopefully.

It's Temari Time!!

OK...so now I'm up to date...let's get onto temari!

Temari making took over my spare time in April this year. It's (as many would tell you) something that very quickly turns into an addiction. A big thanks to Temari Addict Australia for helping me develop my orbsession (get it?!) so quickly.

I dont have the longest attention span when it comes to focusing on one particular hobby, so imagine my surprise to find that I not only made one temari, but then made several more, and as yet, haven't found the fascination to be dwindling at all.

I have a few Japanese books, and a few of the English ones as well. I'm fascinated by the patterns and the shapes, the layers and colour combinations possible. I'm learning different techniques. And I'm having a ball (oops...there's another one!).

So a little while ago, the idea for an International Temari Appreciation Day (ITAD) was born (thanks Rebecca), and it's October 22nd - yep - that's tomorrow! There is a Flickr page for ITAD, and a fantastic competition aimed at spreading the temari word. Go have a look at some of the great pic's that are there already. Thanks also go to Rebecca for setting up a International Temari Day blog page.

To celebrate ITAD, I have put a small display at my workplace, and also done up some leaflets for my local craft shop. I'm also working on a ball with a group from the Temari Challenge group on Yahoo, an original creation with inputs from seven of us. It's interesting to see what each person adds to the design, and I'm itching to see how it turns out.

I also decided to add this blog to my signature on the Yahoo groups so that someone other than me knows it exists! Anyhow, here are some photo's of some of the temari I have made.

My favourite temari is the black base with the purple, yellow and green kiku pattern. I have my threads seperated into four colour groups - blues, greens, earths and pink/purples. I challenged myself to choose one colour from three of the four boxes, and this was the combination that resulted. I am repeatedly amazed that a change in colour combination can alter the apperance of a relatively simple design so drastically.