Quiet week

It's been a quiet week for needlework. The rest of my life seems to be in high gear, and at this time of the year I'm not equipped to handle it. I haven't finished any temaris this week! I finished my class, and I am working on 2 SALs (Stitch-a-longs) with different groups, but on those I don't want to forage ahead too far, because then, what's the point? You miss the fun of stitching with everyone else. I have done some more work on a very intriguing division that I noticed in the Japanese book "Kii." It's trying to pretend to be a combination 10 with its 12 pentagons and 8 hexagons, but it is actually a simple 12 with extra dividing lines. I have the marking done, so now I just have to do the stitching. I haven't started stitching on my 122 centers yet (besides the centers of the flowers). With both of those it is a question of picking out the colors.

So, in my quiet, at-home evening last night, did I pick up a Temari? Of course not! I picked up one of my PIGs (Projects in Grocery-bag). I have several of those sitting around the house, and I am trying to clear them out. They are similar to a WIP (Work in Progress), except there is more of an aspect of storage, than of work.

Last spring I fell in love with the Lizard Ridge afghan from www.knitty.com, so much so, that I started in on it. Finding all the yarn to use (you need 24 different skeins) was like a treasure hunt, and I could knit a square in one evening, which gave a great sense of accomplishment. So when I got done with the knitting, it became a PIG. Last night, I decided not to arrange the squares, but to just stitch them together in the order they were resting in the bag. I don't think it will make a big difference in the way the overall afghan will look. I got almost 1/2 the squares attached together in just one evening!



After the squares are all stitched together, they get a simple crochet edging around the outside, but that should not be a problem at all. I may have a finished afghan in a week's time!

Our final assignment for class was to write instructions on how to make this Temari. I succeeded in making the ball without any instructions, but I have not written my instructions yet. I wish I had gone with the traditional Victorian colors (maroon, cream, green) instead of making a statement.



I also prepared and marked 3 additional mari: the blue one is for the c8 to c10 challenge, the green one is a s6 with additional lines that really intrigued me, and the white one with gold stitching is my multi-pole, 122 centers, ready to begin stitching. They aren't very exciting to look at, but they are very meditative to make.



I have to make one more mari, on a smaller base, a s12 for a obi/thimble ring stitch along. It turns out that Japanese people who made temari also made their own thimbles, which were, of course, useful and beautiful as well. A new group is working on collecting, translating, explaining, and demonstrating patterns on how to make these thimbles. They don't fit over the tip of your finger, like the thimbles we are used to, but are in the shape of a ring, and protect the side of your finger to push the needle. I could have used one on the white/gold mari, my fingers were getting very sore by the time I was done with the marking. I also had only about 4 inches of the metallic thread left when I got done, I think I lucked out on that.

As you can probably tell, it turned out to be a restful weekend. Our dog Jake got fixed, and is requiring a lot of attention so he can heal properly. It is very difficult to keep a Golden Retriever puppy calm and quiet. He's not being a good patient. We stayed home to watch over him, along with DD J, who also helped puppy-sit.

Finished classwork

I'm calling this Temari finished. It is supposed to have light red spider-web stitches in the centers of the blue stars, but I liked how it looked without them. I also took the final tacking stitches (you can see them in the central pentagons) in white instead of the light red. The dark red in the background is more than enough contrast for me.



Our puppy is at the vet, and will be recuperating this weekend. I hope we can keep him quiet, but it is going to be an uphill battle. He has a lot of energy.

The plan is to have grand kids over this weekend too, but winter weather may interfere with those plans. Right now I can't tell if it is going to be a relaxing weekend, or not; I'll let you know.

Home work

I finished the mystery Temari from my "Blue Stars" class. I think this Temari turned out very nice for not being sure what the pattern would look like before I started.



I also finished my Birthday swap, but I won't post that picture until after Rob opens it in April. I got the final lesson for my class, so I can finish that Temari tonight, and then there is a challenge in that lesson as well; so I will start on that one. I have my temari marked for the c8 to c10 stitch-along. I have a couple of bases made, but I think they are too large for the "Thimble-ring" obi stitch-along; I will have to make a smaller base for that one. I also want to start looking at the 122 centers, which involves a lot of stitching; that one will take a while. And I have to trace the pattern for the temari globe so I can transfer the pattern on to my fabric.

I love not being bored!

My friend who sent me the Ñanduti from Paraguay sent me a picture of her latest quilt, made with a couple of motifs. You can see it here. I think her quilt is very creative and beautiful.

Finished

This is my 92 face temari finished. I am very pleased by how it turned out. I ended up using a pink for the final petal color, and leaving the extra hexagons blank. It took 6 days of stitching to finish this one!

I really like how there is a little glint of gold in the center of each petal. The marking is not at all even, but it's close enough for me. I want to do this same pattern in the next step up, starting with 42 poles, and tripling those to 122. There will be more blank hexagons, so maybe I can stitch some leaves on that one.



I'm almost done with my next swap Temari, but I ran out of white pearl cotton last night. I need a yard! After I finish that one, I can work on the 2 mystery balls that came in my lesson (words explaining the pattern, but no pictures or diagrams).

To do, after I finish those, our group ran across pictures of viruses on line. My first thought was "Temari Balls!" We are talking about working some of them up, and communicating with the authors of the site, to see if they are interested in a collaboration. It reminds me of the crocheted reef that was on display in Chicago last year.

Odds and Ends

This is my "in progress" 92 center Temari. I don't know how I am going to finish the extra hexagon between the flower hexagons, I will have to experiment. They will either stay white, or have some kind of emerald green leaf in those places. I am using medium and dark purple, medium and dark blue, garnet, and probably a medium to dark teal or turquoise. I want to leave enough of the ball underneath showing so it doesn't get too dark.



Agne got in touch with me, and her Temari is all packed and ready to go.

I worked on my Temari class homework last night. I didn't quite finish my homework stitching, but I was able to do part of each kind of stitching so that does not present any difficulties. The lesson included a couple of "mystery" balls, written instructions to follow without any pictures. I think I know what those will look like, but I'm not sure, so I will have to do them. I have also decided on the pattern for my birthday swap ball, and I want to try a ball with 122 centers. Guess who will be wrapping maris tonight and tomorrow?

Coreen, I haven't forgotten your request either, to do a tutorial on marking a c8 ball. I'm just a little intimidated, now that I know someone is actually going to be reading it. LOL

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Birthday!

Today is a birthday day. It is my mom's birthday today, my sister-in-law Margie, and my college room-mate Lois. Happy birthday to all of you. I would love to be able to share cake and ice cream with you today. None of us needs to tell you how many birthdays there have been, but it is a day for celebration.

I'm taking an on-line class for Temari, which is why I haven't been as prolific this past week. The lesson this week was 3 ways to mark a c10. I did all my homework and tried all three methods. My usual way of marking a Temari was labeled #2 in the lessons. This is the method where you start by stitching a s10 (simple 10) and go forward from there. It is very accurate, but involves the use of a calculator.

The most daring method, labeled #3 involves starting with a blank ball and uses a tool called a v-ruler. The v-ruler (as the name might hint) is two rulers joined at the base (forming a "V") at 72 degrees. After calculating your magic number (C/6+C/100, where C is the circumference) [I told you it was magic] you can use the v-ruler to place your pins directly into the mari without any other help. Of course, it's not quite that easy, but I was amazed that it even worked at all. I stitched this ball using that method, since they didn't want marking lines in the pattern at all.



The marking was fine, but I do have to admit that at the 1/2 way point I just about discarded this ball; I thought it was turning out horrible. It ended up not being horrible, but there is not enough contrast between the tan mari and the blue stitching. This was going to be a swap but it did not turn out nice enough for that. I do like the 10 and 6 point stars that appeared at the end.

I marked this ball with the same #3 method. It is waiting for the next lesson:

It seems to be very nice and even, and I like the metallic thread that came in the kit to do the marking. I only had to fudge the corners a little bit to get everything to line up just right.

Now, the third method, which was labeled #1 starts with a s4 division. You need your v-ruler to check your results, but all you need to do the division is your regular tools, pins, strips of paper and your magic number. (Fortunately, there are tables and charts that give you your magic number, again, no math required.)

So I got ambitious, and instead of going for 12 centers (a regular c10 ball) or 32 centers (the blue and purple ball several weeks ago) I decided to go for 92 centers. So I've been marking this ball since Sunday, and I'm not done yet!



The needle is stuck in the side so I know where I left off. I'm finding it very easy to get lost. Between the hexagons, pentagons, diamonds and triangles it's a little confusing. If you can see the star (right where the highlight is on the picture), that's sort of where you have to orient yourself on the ball. Wish me luck! There's quite a bit of stitching left on this one before the marking is done, then you get to stitch the pattern.

The weekend was nice. We had tickets to see Blue Man Group in Chicago.



The show was a lot of fun, plus we got to eat at a very nice place with J, and I got to shop for more Temari books. The only thing that could have made it better was if we could have seen P and C. I haven't seen my grand kids in 5 weeks, and I'm pining for them.