bitter winter wind, snow falling

This is a set of two small temari that were stitched to be a pair, and to echo each other in design

left: bitter winter wind

bitter winter wind
ends there—
sound of the sea
— Ikenishi Gonsui (1650–1722)

They are stitched in perle #8, a thinner weight thread. It was almost like drawing with pen and ink (which is something I do), and the designs were created as I stitched—"freestyle."

left: snow falling

no sky
no land — just
snow falling
— Kajiwara Hashin (1864–?)

Each has a thread wrap in eggshell. Both are stitched with hand-dyed naturally variegated perle #8 in charcoal tones. Guidelines in ecru perle #8; "bitter winter wind" (no. 203) has an S8 division, "snow falling" (no. 204) an S10 division. The haiku by Ikenishi Gonsui is in the bell box of "bitter winter wind" and the haiku by Kajiwara Hashin is in the bell box of "snow falling," along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Both are the same size — circumference: 8.125 inches / 20.5 cm; diameter: 2.58 inches / 6.5 cm. Both completed 4 November 2012 (nos. 203, 204).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

left: snow falling; right: bitter winter wind

the artist is . . .

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.
— Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

A set of two small temari with the traditional flax (or hemp) design—asanoha kagari. They're stitched with perle #8 thread—about half the thickness of #5, the size I generally use.

No. 158: Thread wrap in black; C8 division and embroidery in #8 ecru. Circumference: 8.5 inches / 21.5 cm; diameter: 2.7 inches / 6.84 cm. No. 159: Thread wrap in cream; C8 division and embroidery in #8 black. Circumference: 8.625 inches / 22 cm; diameter: 2.75 inches / 7 cm. The quote by Pablo Picasso is in the bell box of each, along with brass rings that make a quiet traditional rattle. Completed 16 September 2012 (nos. 158, 159).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

next to an 11" circumference / 3.5" diameter temari, for comparison

a single thread in nature (3)

If one pulls on a single thread in nature, you'll find it attached to everything else.
— John Muir (1838–1914)

Here's the third of the triad stitched around the Muir quote (see the first here and the second here). Again, mutsume ami—the basket weave—like the first, but with 6 filled triangles and just two unadorned.

Thread wrap in silvery lilac gray, S4 division. Embroidery in violet, lavender, lilac, rust orange, and black. The quote by John Muir is in the bell box, along with 17 brass rings. Circumference: 9.5 inches / 24.5 cm; diameter: 3 inches / 7.8 cm. Completed 4 August 2012 (no. 134).


Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

133, 134, 132

this beautiful path

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.
— Thich Nhat Hanh (1926– )

These three temari have me continuing on my spindle exploration. All feature a pattern of three layered spindles at each pole, on alternate axes so the points cross the equator. The primary temari has many colored rows, whereas the two smaller temari have the pattern in fewer shades (all pulled from the main palette), with opposite dominant colors.

Thread wrap in ecru, S12 division in metallic silver. Embroidery in a total of 9 shades of blue, blue green, gold, beige, violet, &c. The darkest color is deep navy blue; the lightest a silvery off-white. The quote by Thich Nhat Hanh is in the bell box of each, and each has 23 brass rings.

126 (multistripe): circumference: 10.5 inches / 27 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.59 cm; completed 19 May 2012
127 (dominant color gold): circumference: 9.75 inches / 24.7 cm; diameter: 3.1 inches / 7.86 cm; completed 27 May 2012
128 (dominant color violet): circumference: 10 inches / 25.2 cm; diameter: 3.18 inches / 8.02 cm; completed 28 May 2012

Currently part of 10 x 10 x 10 x Tieton, a juried exhibition in Washington. The show runs 11 August to 11 October.

front to back: 126, 127, 128

left to right: 127, 126, 128

left to right: 127, 128, 126

happiness was born a twin (spindles)

124 (left) and 123 (right)

All who would win joy, must share it;
happiness was born a twin.
— Lord Byron (1788–1824)

Creeping up on my one-year anniversary of temari making, and I had yet to learn one of the most elementary stitches — the spindle. These temari both feature a pattern of three layered spindles at each pole (inspired by a design Barbara Suess's book). For the first, I started the first rows fairly close to the equator, placing the spindle groups on offset guidelines, so that the ends would eventually pass each other. I love how this looks, but as a result the spindles end up so long the final rows are more than half the circumference, and are a bit finicky. Fine for me to keep, where I can "groom" them into place when necessary, but it didn't feel sturdy enough to put up for sale.

I had originally intended to make this another pair for sale, but instead adjusted my measurements and refined my color scheme for the second one. Instead of starting 1/3rd up from the equator I started 1/2 way up, so the overall design is smaller and shorter. I wish the points overlapped, but it is more sturdy at least.

Thread wrap in dark navy, S12 division in metallic copper. Embroidery in three shades of blue, rust orange, golden olive yellow, and silvery off-white/gray (plus a row of moss green in 123). The quote by Lord Byron is in the bell box of each, and each has 23 brass rings. 123: circumference: 10.5 inches / 27 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.59 cm; completed 14 May 2012; 124: circumference: 10.875 inches / 27.8 cm; diameter: 3.46 inches / 8.84 cm; completed 16 May 2012.

No. 124 has been sold on Etsy to benefit Kiva.org.

123

124

124 (left) and 123 (right)

124

123 (left) and 124 (right)

as we are

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.
— Anaïs Nin (1903–1977)

When I made my first temari in Barb Seuss's "Morning Glory" class, we made a set of three — one primary design, and two "challenge" designs that were secondary yet used design elements and the same colors as the primary temari. Along the way I have been making individual temari, but I missed the idea of "sets," of primary and secondary, of like-groups. This is my first set, then, of two temari.

The larger temari (no. 121) features a design of kiku herringbone and reverse kiku herringbone, two five-pointed stars at each pole, interlocked. The smaller temari (no. 122) features four 4-point interlocked reverse kiku stars at each pole, with guidelines removed.

Thread wrap in purple. 121: S10 division in dusky violet #8 perle; 122: S16 division with guidelines removed. Embroidery in purple, blue-violet, rust orange, and golden orange-yellow. The quote by Anaïs Nin is in the bell box of each, and each has 27 brass rings. 121: circumference: 10.5 inches / 26.4 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.4 cm; completed 10 May 2012; 122: circumference: 9.75 inches / 25.5 cm; diameter: 3.1 inches / 8.11 cm; completed 11 May 2012.

Sold to benefit Kiva.org (two loans will be made).