get the planet ready

When you've finished getting yourself ready in the morning, you must go get the planet ready.
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–1944), The Little Prince

Ribbed kiku herringbone. S8 division in ecru. Thread wrap in ecru. Embroidery in 15 shades of moss and avocado greens, with a couple browns. The quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 10.75 inches / 27.5 cm; diameter: 3.42 inches / 8.75 cm. Completed 25 November 2012 (no. 219).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

what is essential is invisible to the eye

Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–1944), The Little Prince

S10 division in metallic gold. Thread wrap in "pansy." Embroidery in 5 colors (brown, rust, pale yellow, violet blue, purple). The quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 10.75 inches / 27.5 cm; diameter: 3.42 inches / 8.75 cm. Completed 25 November 2012 (no. 218).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

curiosity

Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.
— Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)

A C6 swirl stitched entirely clockwise, compared to the clockwise / counter-clockwise method.

C6 division. Thread wrap in chocolate brown. Embroidery in light creamy brown. The quote by Vladimir Nabokov is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 9.875 inches / 25.1 cm; diameter: 3.14 inches / 7.98 cm. Completed 24 November 2012 (no. 217).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

where your life wells forth

I could give you no advice but this: to go into yourself and to explore the depths where your life wells forth.
— Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926)

At long last, a C10 swirl that uses the clockwise / counter-clockwise method of filling the 120 little triangles created by the division (compared to filling larger shapes in with all-clockwise stitching). This is the next step up from the C8 swirl I finished recently — the number of triangles increases from 48 to 120. It reminds me (in these colors) of a hydrangea blossom. About 10–11 hours just for the stitching.

C10 division. Thread wrap in black. Embroidery in light [slightly violet-] blue. The quote by Rainer Maria Rilke is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 11.875 inches / 30 cm; diameter: 3.77 inches / 9.5 cm. Completed 23 November 2012 (no. 216).

For sale on Etsy to benefit Kiva.org.

new year's day

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
— Edith Lovejoy Pierce (1904–1983)

Another swirl design, though this time stitched on a C8 division — my first in this style. 48 triangles filled alternating clockwise and counter-clockwise. To the best of my reckoning, the pointed shapes come out in three or four points because on the C8 you can view it as having either triangle or square shaped areas; this is in contrast to a C6 swirl where all pointed shapes have 3 points (and I guess 2 [for both C6 and C8]?, but I see those less as autonomous shapes). Next up is a C10, where I assume they'll come out as 5-points (and maybe others?). To be continued . . .

Thread wrap in silvery lilac. Embroidery in dusky antique lavender. The quote by Edith Lovejoy Pierce is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 10.25 inches / 26 cm; diameter: 3.26 inches / 8.27 cm. Completed 20 November 2012 (no. 215).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

to rise above the little things

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: to rise above the little things.
— John Burroughs (1837–1921)

A C10-style swirl. The stitching can be excuted very tightly, as here, or more loosely. Since the embroidery thread is a near match to the thread wrap, I didn't feel the need to have the thread wrap color show through as much as if it was a contrasting / complementary color. Plus, I really wanted to see how much I could refine my stitching. I think this is the most "packed," coverage yet, which is nice to know I can accomplish.

Thread wrap in cinnamon (red brown). Embroidery in medium-dark rust orange. The quote by John Burroughs is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 10.5 inches / 26.5 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.43 cm. Completed 20 November 2012 (no. 214).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

thank you!

I want to thank everyone who turned out for my shop's holiday "shebang" — a great success! All of the temari sold, and thus I was able to make twenty-five $25 loans through Kiva.org, to women in Peru, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Philippines, Mexico, Mongolia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Senegal.

I have started posting each loan on my Facebook page, so one can see exactly which temari funded which loan.

This is the season to be thankful! (It is always the season to be thankful!)

in the droplets of dew

I like to wash
the dust of this world
in the droplets of dew.
— Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)

A C6 swirl design. Thread wrap in straw yellow; C6 division. Embroidery in light silver blue. The haiku by Matsuo Bashō is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 9.625 inches / 24.5 cm; diameter: 3.06 inches / 7.79 cm. Completed 14 November 2012 (no. 213).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

the 2012 holiday selection in the shop

This weekend 24 new temari will be listed for sale in the Etsy shop (yes, one is missing from the group shot above). Half will be listed on Saturday November 17 at 3 p.m. Eastern time, and the other half on Sunday November 17 at noon Eastern Time. Due to the size of my mailing list, it is not uncommon for the shop to sell out in 10–15 minutes after they're published.

Click here to see details on all the temari that will be for sale.

$25 from the sale of each temari will be loaned through Kiva.org.

it is the journey that matters

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.
— Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)

Thread wrap in silvery lilac; S4 division. Embroidery in purple. The quote by Ursula K. Le Guin is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 8.25 inches / 21 cm; diameter: 2.62 inches / 6.68 cm. Completed 13 November 2012 (no. 212).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

drop by drop

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.
— Buddha

Another perle #8–stitched small temari. Thread wrap in sky blue; S4 division. Embroidery in hand-dyed naturally variegated perle #8 (thin weight thread) with blue, very light lilac and nearly white tones. The quote by the Buddha is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 7.625 inches / 19.5 cm; diameter: 2.42 inches / 6.2 cm. Completed 13 November 2012 (no. 211).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

Compare thread weights: the blue is #8, the purple and the temari in the back are #5.

year's end

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
— Hal Borland (1900–1978)

This the flax / hemp stitch (asanoha kagari) done in all-over style on a C8; not new to me, but this is the first time that I added extra stitches in the "blossoms." The blossoms are formed from a technique called pine needle stitching, and on a C8 flax design there are usually 4 (seen more easily in this multicolor version); after finishing all the stitching I went back and added 8 more to each.

Thread wrap in silver gray; C8 division in black. Embroidery in black and light gray. The quote by Hal Borland is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 11.25 inches / 28.7 cm; diameter: 3.58 inches / 9.13 cm. Completed 12 November 2012 (no. 209).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

at home in this universe

When I learn something new—and it happens every day—I feel a little more at home in this universe, a little more comfortable in the nest.
— Bill Moyers (b. 1934)

The spindle pattern.

Thread wrap in midnight blue; S12 division in metallic gold. Embroidery in 9 shades of rust, gold, and brown. The quote by Bill Moyers is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 10.875 inches / 27.7 cm; diameter: 3.46 inches / 8.8 cm. Completed 11 November 2012 (no. 208).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

all the universe conspires

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
— Paulo Coelho (b. 1947)

Thread wrap in seafoam green; S8 division in metallic silver. Embroidery in greens and violets. The quote by Paul Coelho is in the bell box along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 10.5 inches / 26.8 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.53 cm. Completed 10 November 2012 (no. 210).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.