Tuesday, October 28, 2008

"Scarf" from India

I put scarf in quotes in the title for this piece because it is so gauzy it would provide no warmth or protection. It is absolutely beautiful, but I have never worn it because I'm afraid of catching it in a button, a zipper, a ring, or anything else that might be in the neighborhood. I loved the colors so much that I put it up in my office (actually cubicle, but it has a window!). When I looked closely at it a couple of months later I noticed it had faded badly; it is a noticeably lighter color on one half than on the other. But it is beautiful!

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I finished my temari last night, so here's a (slightly blurry) picture. I ordered a new Temari book off the Internet last night, because this was so much fun, I want to learn to do it better. This one will make a nice addition to our guild Christmas display this year.

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My sister prepared the base wrapping for this one so that is another thing I have to learn to do. I started last night. Each base has 3 or 4 layers. The first is a core made of rags, or dryer lint, or anything else you have sitting around. My sister uses plastic grocery bags, so that's what I used. The second layer is yarn, wrapped tight rather than with ease like you would prepare a ball for knitting. You can use old yarn, or mill seconds, or anything else you have sitting around. I'm up to this point in the base I am making. The third (optional) layer is 3 strands of sewing thread, covering the yarn, and the fourth layer is a single layer of thread, giving you a uniform surface. On this ball you can see the 3rd layer (blue-green) through the outside layer. This thread doesn't have to be high quality, but you do need a lot of it. Its rather mindless work, so it will be good for evenings when I'm really tired. I may be making a lot of these.

2 comments:

Moonsilk Stitches said...

I love your temari ball! I think this pattern would look nice with variegated thread.

When I made mine, we used an entire spool of sewing thread for the top layer. It felt endless. But then, we began with a styrofoam ball so that part went quickly! Marjorie

Karol said...

Beautiful temari ball. Looking forward to seeing more.