life in widening circles

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
— Rainier Maria Rilke (1875–1926)

This temari is a variation adapted from Diana Vandervoort's "wishing papers" pattern of layered wrapped bands. It is one of the first patterns I ever tried.

Thread wrap in black; S6 with extra marking lines in metallic gold. Embroidery in slate gray, chocolate brown, medium antique blue, grass green, and butter yellow. The quote by Rilke is in the bell box along with brass rings* that make a quiet traditional rattle. Circumference: 11.5 inches / 29.5 cm; diameter: 3.66 inches / 9.4 cm. Completed 17 August 2012 (no. 138).

*As of this temari, I have stopped counting the number of rings I put in the temari . . . I am adding a good box-full for the best rattle effect.

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

up at the stars

Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
— Stephen Hawking

Another attempt at the Wishing Papers pattern which employs the wrapped bands technique (see variations here, here, and here). Still struggling with aligning the threads neatly where they gather at the obi, and not wrapping so tightly that the ball puffs out where there aren't bands. Still not doing it very well! I'm so intrigued by the braided effect, I'm wondering if there's an alternate way to achieve this with a different formation of wrapped bands (while I continue to practice this one).

Silver blue thread wrap; S6 division with metallic silver; embroidery in dark pewter gray, three shades of silver blue, and pearl gray. The quote by Stephen Hawking is in the bell box with nine brass rings. Circumference (before wrapping!): 11 inches / 28 cm; diameter: 3.5 inches / 9 cm. Completed 3 September 2011 (no. 023).

Top (pole) view.

Side (obi / equator) view.

wishing papers variation no. 2

Another variation on "Wishing Papers" — this time using a three-color palette (unlike "Monk's Moon"), though still with fewer threads per row (5 rather than 7). Four shades each of blue, brown-gray, and golden brown; metallic bronze thread for the division lines and highlights; and a base thread-wrap in ecru. Circumference: 10 inches / 25.5 cm; diameter: about 3 inches / 8 cm. Completed 14 August 2011 (no. 014).

Top (pole) view

3/4 view

Side (equator) view — this is called the obi

monk's moon

the moon so pure
a wandering monk carries it
across the sand
—Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)

This haiku is in the bell box of the temari I'm naming "Monk's Moon." It's based on the "Wishing Papers" pattern. One color palette instead of three: dark coffee brown, light brown, tan, and very light tan; with borders in golden brown and metallic gold, and a thread wrap of golden pumpkin. It's not as bright (or orange) as the photos below (the photo above is better); actually, it looks like a pumpkin crème brûlée.

This is a good pattern to practice keeping the embroidery threads as flat as possible and not overly overlapping or shifting position/order where they gather at the obi (the center horizontal band, or the "equator" — more on this as the anatomy posts progress); as well as not making the embroidery wraps so tight that the temari "puffs up" in between wrapped areas. About 3.25 inches diameter. Completed 2 August 2011 (no. 008).

top view

side view

"wishing papers"—kind of

Based on "Wishing Papers," a pattern by Diana Vandervoort. All of the temari I've done so far divided the sphere into 8 sections; this pattern divides it into 6. Her version has 4 bands in each "row," but since my temari is smaller (about 3.25 inches diameter), I just wrapped 3 bands for each. I selected my own color palette (gradations of brown, blue, and green), and used ecru cotton perle for the dividing lines & edging (rather than metallic gold), which makes the dividing lines "invisible," so to speak, over the ecru thread-wrapped surface. Completed 30 July 2011 (no. 007).

top view

side view