wise men fashion themselves

Carpenters bend wood, fletchers bend arrows, wise men fashion themselves.
— Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha

This temari has a pattern two interlocked five-point kiku herringbone flowers, but the kiku points are at the equator and not at the poles, which is the standard. I did this once before (no. 65, an S16) and think this one turned out better as an S10, and I want to try working with this idea further. The petals have the opposite "arc" than when the kiku points are at the poles, and the whole thing reminds me of Islamic designs, and doors on mosques and other Islamic architecture or mosaics.

Thread wrap in purple; S10 division in metallic copper; embroidery in 5 shades of very light lavender-white (not actually white) to dusky lavender to purple. The quote above by the Buddha is in the bell box along with 14 brass rings. Circumference: 10.625 inches / 27 cm; diameter: 3.38 inches / 8.59 cm. Completed 30 January 2012 (no. 093).

this very moment

This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, luckily for us, it's with us wherever we are.
— Pema Chödrön (1936– )

My second attempt at the "kiku around kiku" technique, like no. 91. That was done on an S12, and this on an S20, which is what the original pattern called for. This is finer and more delicate because of the narrower petals. It has a 20-point kiku herringbone design (uwagake chidori kagari) with a second round of kiku stitched in the opposite color under and around the points of the first.

Thread wrap in charcoal gray; S20 division in black #8 perle; embroidery in olive green and orchid purple. The quote above by Pema Chödrön is in the bell box along with 7 brass rings. Circumference: 11.25 inches / 28.5 cm; diameter: 3.58 inches / 9.07 cm. Completed 29 January 2012 (no. 094).

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out of the nest (rose garden pattern)

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.
— Pema Chödrön (1936– )

The rose garden pattern is definitely one of my favorites, and provides so many opportunities for variation. This temari uses alternating pentagons with some long layered herringbone stitches around the center.

Thread wrap in dark moss green; S10 division in matching #5 perle; embroidery in more than 10 shades of greens, silvery greens, browns, and coppers. The quote above by Pema Chödrön is in the bell box along with 10 brass rings. Circumference: 10.625 inches / 27 cm; diameter: 3.38 inches / 8.6 cm. Completed 27 January 2012 (no. 092).


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kiku around kiku pattern - deserve your dream (2)

Deserve your dream.
— Octavio Paz (1914–1998)

This is a new pattern — a traditional pattern that employs a second round of kiku herringbone around the first in reversed colors for an interesting optical effect. The pattern I followed was an S20 division and this an S12. I like very much how it looks, but would like to try it on the narrower division to see what effect that has on the illusion.

Midnight blue thread wrap; S12 division with khaki #8 perle; embroidery in purple and a brassy-golden-yellow. The quote by Octavio Paz  is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings. Circumference: 11 inches / 28 cm; diameter: 3.5 inches / 8.91 cm. Completed 24 January 2011 (no. 091).

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use the experience wisely (2)

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
— Auguste Rodin (1840–1917)

I've twice stitched a C8 with interwoven kiku stars (see no. 29 and no. 66), but this is the first with interwoven, layered stars — that is, each of the six eight-point stars has four points that are "interlocked" with points of other stars.

Very light bluish green (celadon) thread wrap; C8 division with metallic silver; embroidery in four gradated shades of blue-green. The quote by Auguste Rodin is in the bell box along with 7 brass rings. Circumference: 10.625 inches / 27 cm; diameter: 3.38 inches / 8.59 cm. Completed 20 January 2011 (no. 090).


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toward what i don't understand

Every day I make an effort to go toward what I don't understand.
— Yo-Yo Ma (1955– )

This is an experimental temari, using a traditional embroidery stitch (the buttonhole stitch) that's not generally used as part of temari stitching. I have been experimenting with traditional embroidery — click here to see my first experiment, no. 86, inspired by the water lily paintings of Monet. This is the second version of a buttonhole temari as I work to refine the pattern. It is visual expression of one way I feel about cello music.

Thread wrap in dark chocolate brown; S12 division with division lines removed; embroidery in four gradated shades of silver gray that has a touch of green, going from dark at one end of the temari to light at the other. The quote above by Yo-Yo Ma is in the bell box along with 11 brass rings. Circumference: 10.75 inches / 27 cm; diameter: 3.42 inches / 8.59 cm. Completed 18 January 2012 (no. 089).

red and gray swirl

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.
— Henry Miller (1891–1980)

A swirl temari, a gift for the new year.

Silver gray thread wrap; S4 / S10 division variant. Embroidery in dark red wine. The quote by Henry Miller is in the bell box along with 7 brass rings. Circumference: 10.25 inches / 26 cm; diameter: 3.26 inches / 8.27 cm. Completed 15 January 2012 (no. 087).

what i don't understand

Every day I make an effort to go toward what I don't understand.
— Yo-Yo Ma (1955– )

Another 2012 TAST Challenge temari — week two's stitch is the buttonhole stitch (view my first attempts here). I started with the quote, and sketched designs until I found a way to use the stitch to create a visual expression of one way I feel about classical music — and cello music in particular.

I created an S8 division but didn't tack it; I used the vertical guides to align the bases of the buttonhole rows and the ends of the stitches. My stitching needs a lot of practice, especially gauging how the tension pulls on the threads and "mis-aligns" the straightness the top and bottom of each block. I think an S10 or S12, with shorter and denser stitches, would be more successful.

Thread wrap in chocolate brown; no division lines; embroidery in four shades of olive browns and greens, gradated from one end to the other. The quote above by Yo-Yo Ma is in the bell box along with 7 brass rings. Circumference: 10.25 inches / 26 cm; diameter: 3.26 inches / 8.27 cm. Completed 11 January 2012 (no. 088).

Update 20 January: I finished a second "buttonhole" temari, with narrower rows, which you can see here.

TAST 2012 - week 2 - buttonhole

 

Week 2
Buttonhole Stitch

If you're wondering what this is all about, you can read the TAST Week 1 post here. This week the challenge is the buttonhole stitch. I managed to both practice it on my "temari sampler" (above) and complete a finished temari using exclusively the buttonhole stitch (below).

Click here to view the complete post about & see more photos of the finished buttonhole temari, "What I Don't Understand."

Below are my first practice stitches, and some variations of stitches that are in the buttonhole family. I like this stitch; again the temari as a canvas presents unique challenges, particularly adjusting the tension of the stitches correctly so as not to pull the threads too much, and obviously I need lots of practice.

 

buttonhole stitch

 

more buttonhole

buttonhole wheel

buttonhole wheel fail - looks like a nautilus

attempt at feather stitch

rosette of thorns

up and down buttonhole

water lilies (dig and delve unceasingly)

It's on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.
— Claude Monet (1840–1926)

I'm hoping that whenever possible, I'll find ways to play with and employ the stitches I'm learning in the 2012 TAST Challenge to create temari — even if very non-traditional and experimental. This week's stitch was the fly stitch, and I was inspired to use it like an impressionist brushstroke to make my interpretation of Claude Monet's water lily paintings.

Hours and hours of layer upon layer of the fly stitch create this temari.

Thread wrap in light bluish-green (celadon); no division; embroidery in about 12 shades of blues, greens, violets, and in-betweens. The quote above by Monet is in the bell box along with 7 brass rings. Circumference: 9.75 inches / 25 cm; diameter: 3.1 inches / 7.95 cm. Completed 9 January 2012 (no. 086).

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TAST 2012 - week 1 - fly stitch (Take a Stitch Tuesday)

This year I'm taking part in the TAST 2012 Challenge — Take a Stitch Tuesday — being held on the blog Pin Tangle. Each week a new stitch will be introduced and anyone participating can learn it or if they already know it take it further; take a photo; then post a link to their photo on the Pin Tangle site.

Since everything I know about embroidery I learned from stitching temari, I know very little. Herringbone. Herringbone variations. Anything else? I'm not sure. So, this will really add to my vocabulary & tool box, so to speak.

While I expect most people participating will be stitching on more traditional materials, I am of course working on a temari. A temari "sampler." Last night I made the largest temari I've ever made — 3 cups of rice hulls in the center, whereas I usually range from ¾ to 1¼ cups. It's 13.625 inches / 34.5 cm in circumference; 4.33 inches / 11 cm. It's bigger than a soft ball. A little larger than a grapefruit. (And I'm considering this temari no. 85.)

I think stitching on a temari will present some unique challenges — there's no "back" of the canvas to access, it's curved, and the threadwrap comes into play a lot in how the threads are pulled by the stitches (or how the stitches are pulled by them). Especially on a temari this large a thread can end up over the end of a stitch, which you can see a little in my photos. I don't think this would be as much of an issue on a smaller temari, where the stitching area would be more convex.

Week 1
Fly Stitch

Gray: top - single fly stitches, and below is a stacked "branch" of them; top green: single stitches in an attempt to make a scale pattern; bottom green: the closed fly stitch, looks like [part of] a leaf.

plaited fly stitch

left: threaded fly stitch; right: whipped fly stitch

Finally, stacked stitches to make a little ferny thing.

Update, 9 January: Click to view my post about my completed "fly stitch" temari.