Happy New Year from Kumo Temari! (to rise above little things)

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

The seventh in the series of temari I have made specifically for the New Year. Two four-petaled kiku herringbone flowers layered, with layered tips over the obi and extra space between the inner and outer rows of each petal. It's like lattice work; I will try to find out if there is an official name for this technique.

Thread wrap in midnight blue; S8 division in perle #8; embroidery in two shades of blueish-green, two shades of silver-blue, and dark pewter. The quote above by John Burroughs is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for upcoming 2012). Circumference: 10 inches / 25.3 cm; diameter: 3.18 inches / 8.03 cm. Completed 30 December 2011 (no. 083).

Update, January 2: Want to win this temari? Kumo Temari is the featured solo exhibit and interview on EtsyStalker.com. To win "To Rise Above Little Things" head on over to the interview and leave a comment; the winner will be chosen Sunday January 8.

every moment is a golden one

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

No. 80 got me thinking about diamonds. That one used kiku flowers with layered tips and ended up forming diamond shapes, but I wanted to stitch diamonds proper. I have seen many temari with diamond shapes, but chose not to follow a pattern or look at any photos in constructing this one, and just find the right measurements and placement and design to match what was in my head. I thought I'd just be doing four diamonds around the center but realized that was bare, and added a second layer of four diamonds.

Thread wrap in medium brown; S8 division in metallic copper; embroidery in eight shades from dark brown to golden yellow to light gold. The quote above by Henry Miller is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for upcoming 2012). Circumference: 10.75 inches / 27.5 cm; diameter: 3.42 inches / 8.75 cm. Completed 28 December 2011 (no. 082).

Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

use the experience wisely

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
— Auguste Rodin (1848–1917)

A traditional kiku chrysanthemum for the new year. Garnet is the January birthstone so I worked garnet into the palette.

Thread wrap in slate gray; S16 division in #8 DMC perle; embroidery in two shades of garnet red, two shades of silver gray, and two shades of light golden brown. The quote above by Auguste Rodin is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for upcoming 2012). Circumference: 10.75 inches / 27.2 cm; diameter: 3.42 inches / 8.65 cm. Completed 26 December 2011 (no. 081).


Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

braided herringbone (uwagake chidori kagari) + layered petal tips

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.
— T.S. Eliot (1888–1965)

Having learned braided kiku herringbone — uwagake chidori kagari — with no. 74, I wanted to add the layered petal aspect of nos. 76 and 77. It kind of worked and kind of didn't, and I think what doesn't quite work for me is that as it's just one five-point flower at each pole, rather than two layered flowers, the spacing between rows is more obvious (compare to no. 74). On the other hand, I think that the layered intersections look neat as they form diamonds, and now on my list is trying a design of large open diamonds around the temari, with layered tips forming compact diamonds around the center (regular kiku herringbone, not braided). On this one, the top and bottom have little five-point kiku (Christmas) stars.

Thread wrap in violet; S10 division in #8 DMC perle; embroidery in purple, two shades of dusky lavender, and three shades of green. The quote above by T.S. Eliot is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for upcoming 2012). Circumference: 10.5 inches / 26.8 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.53 cm. Completed 24 December 2011 (no. 080).

Many pictures, for my personal archive . . .

the sun on every field

first day of the year:
it's the sun on every field
that brings such longing
— Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)

I was looking at photos for ideas of field- and grass-evoking weaves. I already knew what colors I'd be working with, and thought about amime-giku, but that didn't seem quite right. I found and studied this photo of an example of a "merry-go-round" variation on JapaneseTemari.com, the website of Barb Suess (a link from the stitch glossary). The merry-go-round stitch (jyouge douji kagari) is a stitch that travels north to south to north, over the equator, around the whole temari. I've done this in a different variation before, in my first set of temari (companion temari no. 2), but for whatever reason I wasn't able to puzzle it out. Rather than going back to those instructions I just sort of "winged" it. I ended up alternating colors of threads so the overall pattern is layered. It turned out pretty much how I would have pictured it — if I'd had a clear picture in my mind.

Thread wrap in a sort of ochre dark gold; S8 division in matching #8 perle; embroidery in dark and light sage and dark and light yellow-gold. The haiku above by Bashō is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for the new year 2012). Circumference: 10 inches / 25.5 cm; diameter: 3.18 inches / 8.1 cm. Completed 23 December  2011 (no. 079).


Sold to benefit Kiva.org.

in utter simplicity

The new year arrived
in utter simplicity —
and a deep blue sky
— Kobayashi Issa (1763–1827)

Another swirl temari, for the new year.

Navy blue thread wrap; sort of a C10 division, though it's actually a variant of an S4 division, and there are no marking lines. Embroidery in medium silvery blue. The haiku by Issa is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for the approaching year of 2012). Circumference: 9.5 inches / 24 cm; diameter: 3 inches / 7.6 cm. Completed 22 December 2011 (no. 078).


Sold 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)

The next attempt at what I first tried with no. 76 — layered kiku tips of the flowers of opposite poles. Temari are traditional as New Years's gifts, particularly made by mothers for daughters. I chose this quote as my first in a series of New Year's temari.

Thread wrap in dark midnight blue; S8 division in medium silver-blue #8 perle; embroidery in three shades of silvery blue, pearl gray, and four shades of brown. The quote by Edith Lovejoy Pierce is in the bell box along with 12 brass rings (for the approaching year of 2012). Circumference: 10.5 inches / 26.5 cm; diameter: 3.34 inches / 8.43 cm. Completed 19 December 2011 (no. 077).


Sold to benefit Kiva.org.