Wrapped Temari

This was a very quick temari to make, since there are so few stitches in it. There are no marking threads (I used pins) and the only places there are stitches are where the threads begin and end. I really like the color combination; the blues look particularly rich. There are three shades of blue (and three shades of tan/gold) but the colors are so close it looks like the colors shade because of the curve of the ball. I like the stair-step effect as well, that develops from wrapping 4 strands before changing to another color. The pattern develops from starting along the outside edge and working in toward the middle. One of the books I bought 2 weeks ago (in Japanese) had a very nice picture tutorial of this temari and gave me the confidence to go ahead with it. Of course, now I cannot remember which one of the books it was, but it was one of the beginner books.



This was stitched with Vineyard silk, which was wonderful to work with, pure pleasure. One of the colors felt different from the others. The twist was looser and felt a little coarse, but you cannot see the difference. I had to cut out about 12 inches in one color and 4 in another because of knot and a flaw. I didn't cut my threads off the skein ahead of time, but worked "attached." That went well with most of the skeins. Only one of them tended to tangle.

I'm going to take the Japanese Temari Association level 1 and level 2 certification this spring (or at least work toward it). I was so excited about some of the intricate temari I saw patterns for that I sort of skipped over some of the basic stitching, and I'm having to go back and practice that. I know, though, that having a good foundation will help my intricate stitching as well.