Advent, Day 11

Rahab was King David's ancestor; I always wonder if the phrase "scarlet woman" comes from this story. She used a scarlet rope to help the Israelite spies and they eventually used that rope to save her when the city was destroyed. (She was a "scarlet woman.")



This Temari went very quickly. I was going to use two shades of green, but after the first one was stitched the next one did not look good next to it. It's not a very big ball, so this little bit of work looks good on it. It has cone thread for the base, it is marked c8 with Kreinik #16 braid in the 091 color (silver and black) and has perle #5 for the stitching. It's the second time I've worked this pattern, and I really like it.



I did discover something about the making of Temaris though. All the books say "secure your marking threads." I was trying to take stitches under the base threads when I marked the balls, but a lot of them were a little "loosey-goosey" and I wasn't doing all of them. Well, I read a suggestion yesterday about using your base thread to secure the marking threads. You don't have to hide it while you are stitching, because it is the same thread you are stitching over; you can't see your travel to each intersection. So because of that hint I secured all the corners on this one, and the difference is amazing. I don't think you can see the difference, but the stitching went much more smoothly and quickly, and feels a lot more secure. I will be doing that from now on on all my balls.

Advent, day 10

Here's another one with angels in the clouds; pouring out manna from his basket. Again, the face doesn't show too much expression, but I still like him.

People have been asking about this pattern. It is still available here. You can get it as a downloaded chart too, no waiting to start. The chart is hand-drawn, and I had been avoiding starting Mary Beale charts because of that, but once you get going it's no problem. After I'm done I may have to start on the stockings.



Here's the Temari ball I finished last night. Please excuse the soft focus, I was trying to get more of a close-up. I am pleased with this one. It is a c8 with cone thread for the mari (base) and DMC perle #8 for the triangles and DMC spool metallic for the marking. (I was encouraged to notice that in the picture showing the pattern I was following the squares were not necessarily square either. The squares you can see in this view look pretty good, but they don't all look that good.)



I have always enjoyed geometry, and in grade school I would play with my compass and make flowers and designs. That interest, my enjoyment of puzzles, and my passion for threads and colors seem to all have come together in Temari stitching. I have at least half a dozen designs in my head that I want to work on, and I keep finding more. Who knew!

Advent, Day 9

I forgot one of the pages! This is actually the 7th one in the series, Moses in the bull rushes. (His sister is watching over him.) I really enjoyed stitching the water. I thought it would take forever, but the pattern was very regular and easy to pick up. I get a kick out of all the bugs on this one too. I can imagine the Nile was pretty buggy at the time.



I made this Temari on Saturday. It is one of the simplest patterns, but this is one of the ones I like the most that I've made. The colors make me think of peppermint, so this is my "peppermint Temari." It has cone thread as the base, DMC #5 for the stripes, and DMC Spool metallic in pearl for the marking and the herringbone on the obi.



It's not even monochromatic! I can't guess what a ball is going to look like when I pick out the colors. Some times the colors I pick work, sometimes they don't! I am getting excited about the ball I'm working on now, hopefully I will be able to show it tomorrow. (Rust and blue, and the colors seem to be working.)

Advent, Day 8

Here's Moses parting the Red Sea. This one went very quickly.



At my guild Christmas party last Tuesday I received an Indigo Rose kit from Marj; and I love it. It's a biscornu; it came with a little stool and everything you need to finish it. I love the colors, Caron Waterlilies Frangipani and Flamingo. (The separate cross stitches remind me of the dots candy (that you had to eat off the paper) from when I was a kid.) I do think my tassels need a haircut; they drag on the ground. But isn't that button just perfect?



It took me several times to get a good picture. On a white background the tassels disappear, on a dark background it becomes overexposed... what to do? Well, my chair upholstery is neutral, try that. Voila!

Advent, Day 7

More Angels! I always loved this story growing up. It 's just too bad there are only 2 angels on these ladders. Jacob looks comfortable with his head on a rock, doesn't he?

Advent, Day 6

This is the story of Isaac and Abraham, but I like it that it does not have those two people in it, just the gift of God for the sacrifice. (The sun does not look too happy, does he?)

Advent, Day 5

This is the third day for the Advent calendar, even though it is the 5th day of Advent. This is Abram and Sarai (before they became Abraham and Sarah). The faces are so small there's not too much room for any kind of expression.



I bought some fancy new pins with colored heads to use when I make Temari balls, and I decided I wanted a new pin cushion to hold them. I wanted a big one, so I used a CD as the base, and some felted wool fabric. It is filled with wool roving, and has a feather stitch vine with detached chain stitch and french knots as the flowers. I really like the colors, even though it is not put together perfectly evenly. I could probably use more practice.



You can see that the pins are very fancy.