I finished a Temari

Here's a picture of the temari I finished last night. I'm not terribly pleased with it. I used some of the variegated thread I got from Stitching Bits and Bobs, the thread is "Hand-Dyed Hues" from New Zealand, color number 506. There is not enough contrast between the thread and the fiber to highlight the floral shapes that were supposed to show up. I tried to help by stitching blue French knots between the petal shapes, and it is better than it was, but still not a great success.

The pattern is from Cosmo 6, page 8, number 3 on that page. It is a c10 with extra marking lines. That one was stitched with a variegated thread that ranged from deep rose to pink, on a black background.



I used up every inch of the skein, and had to use DMC in the darker shade for some of the small diamonds and for the french knots. The HDH comes in 20m skeins, whereas DMC comes in 27m skeins. I was worrying that I would have enough thread to finish, and since I bought it on sale, in a bundle, I didn't think I could get more. I made a mistake on one of the flowers, that should be frogged and redone, but I have no more thread to make repairs. (Don't worry looking for it, I made sure it wasn't in the picture.) [Actually, you can see a corner of the mistake at 10 o'clock on the ball.]




This is a small, plain biscornu (or tuffet) that I put together for practice.

I have posted several items previously that live in the apothecary jar: The strawberry and pear from North Carolina (except the pear was eaten by Jake, which is why they no longer live in a basket); the smalls from Paula; the tuffet on a stool that turned out so pretty; and the small card/fabric baskets I made last November.

Crown Pincushion

This is another one of the pincushions I made for the Christmas season 2007. I didn't like the way this one turned out either; the spikes on the crown do not stand up. The beads are too heavy for the felt to support. It is more the size I was looking for, though.



We had a wonderful day with friends and family. We were invited to a 35th anniversary surprise party; that's how long DH has been working for the same company. (He's been working for them longer than we've been married!) They invited his whole family, his customer, and his peers from the company; he was very moved.

C & P were invited as well. C likes the cake!



After that, there was a chance to sit on grandpa's lap. As you can see, everyone enjoyed that.



The rest of the day was fun too. P and Aunt J went out flying a kite, C slept on grandma's lap for a couple of hours, and then we picked out patterns and some fabric for new clothes for Isabella. C's main concern was that we were not working on them the whole time she was there. They won't turn out exactly like the picture; I hope she likes them.

Beaded Needle Case

This is a small wooden needle case, covered with Delica beads. It is done in peyote stitch. The pattern was worked up by a member of Homewood Embroidery Guild, and I am amazed by how much fun it was to stitch and how beautiful it is. I really love her bead hairdo. This is one of the items the grandkids like to look at as well.

Progress update

Here's a Hardanger needle book from my apothecary jar. The thread is variegated, the equivalent of a Pearl #8. I think it is a Caron thread. There are spider-webs and dove's eyes as the fillings. This was done as a guild project.



This is the piece that has been taking up all my stitching time. In the past week and 1/2 I've stitched most of the top fourth. It will be square, with gazebos on all four sides. It is a Martina Weber Chatelaine design called Indian Summer Reflections. Most of the flosses are silk, with some of them being variegated, some solid. (The black is rayon, which is not fun to work with.) A picture like this doesn't really do it justice. It is beautiful, if I do say so myself.



I will have an opportunity to stitch tonight!