I’m slowly making progress on this temari. I did not quite finish what I had hoped to this week, mostly because I ended up ripping out a bunch. Details, details. (For those who have not been following this project, see the first post and the second post.)

I started this layer expecting to layer the pentagons consistently by stitching them in the same order for each row since that is how the sample in the book was done. After I got the first row done I was not really thrilled with the way that the layering worked out. The overlap of the large pentagons creates 5-point stars in the center of the striped pentagons I stitched in the first layer. Ultimately, the center pentagon part of the 5-point stars becomes a focal point in the design. So, when I looked at the layering that I initially got I thought it was a bit too random for what I wanted in that center. Rip it out! (Sorry I did not take a picture first.)

I restitched it, but this time I carefully wove the pentagons so that the layering would look like a nicely interlocked 5-point star. Also, the threads that cross in the center pentagon area have a counter-clockwise spin to them just like the stitches in the striped pentagons do. Here’s what the first two rows looks like when they are interlocked:

Now, I should point out that I can be particularly picky about this kind of detail. Not everyone cares to mess with this kind of weaving, especially when they can get away with not doing it. The original design in the book did not have this level of detail and it looks just fine. This is one of those places that I am paying picky attention to details that it is doubtful most people looking at the finished design will ever notice. If you do not enjoy messing with details like this… don’t. It will be fine either way.

I wanted this part to look like it had the thread doubled in the needle but didn’t want to stitch that way with this rayon thread. So for the next rows I had to be careful to weave only the rows I was putting on and just layer over the previous ones. Again… me being picky about details. I added two more rows of blue. Now I am in the middle of two rows of orange. I got enough of them done that I can talk about the last step in the design. Here’s what it looks like so far on the ‘finished’ side.

And here’s a view of a 6-way intersection aka the center of a 6-part triangle on the c10 marking.

You can see how the 5-point stars are filling up the center of the striped pentagon layer. In fact, they are filling it up a bit too much. The original design had room for 4 more rows at this point. I’ll be lucky if I can get in more than one.

The last step in this design is to stitch small pentagons around the center of the 5-point stars and inside the striped pentagons from the first layer. You add rows here until the center of the striped pentagons are all filled in. Note about the diagram: I only added the last row of the large penagons in orange, and only a partial section of that to show how it creates the star over the striped pentagons. I don’t have the time today to draw it all in. The new small penatgons are shown in blue in the center of the first pentagon layer.

Originally I was going to do two rows of orange and then two rows of the dark blue. Obviously I don’t have room for that so I am going to start with the dark blue only and see if I like the look. Another possibility is to use the lighter blue. I won’t know which I like better until I give it a try.

Incidentally, all of this stitching has been done with the ElMolina rayon thread right as it comes off of the spool, keeping it nicely twisted together as I stitch. (As opposed to untwisting it to lay it flat like I did for the striped pentagons.) It really has stitched nicely. Because there are long sides to these pentagons I was able to go back to 1 yard lengths of thread in the needle and had no issues keeping it nicely twisted. It does not keep the twist on its own; you do have to retwist it as you stitch.

Hopefully by this time next week I will have this ball finished. Not a moment too soon either. My next project is already decided. I’ll be stitching a ball for the International Temari Appreciation Day logo.

This is the second post about this temari design. In the first post I gave the information about the source and the threads I would be using. I’ll pull all of these posts together into a coherent pattern when I am finished.

I just managed to meet my goal of finishing the first pentagon layer on my temari this week. Here it is:

Step 1: Striped pentagons

I still love the way the ElMolina rayon thread looks on the ball. I was afraid that I would get tired of fussing with it before I got the stitching done but it really was not bad. Other than using shorter lengths and being a bit more snag prone it was not that different from using 6 strands of floss in the needle and smoothing it out as I go. As you would expect from rayon, the shine is amazing. Since it is not broken up with a firm twist it just glows.

Now I’m ready for the next step in the design. For this part I will be using the thread twisted as it comes off the spool. Since it has a loose twist I basically have to keep retwisting it as I lay the threads, kind of the opposite from the previous layer.

When I first looked at the design I thought this layer would be hexagons. It just goes to show how poor my 3D visualization skills are. When I stitched the shape and drew it out on the diagram I could see that it is a pentagon. These pentagons are much, much larger than the first layer ones and will be layered with each other. Since each of these stretches across the center of the pentagons in the first step, they will end up creating 5 point stars. Here’s a diagram showing one of the large pentagons:

Step 2: Large dark blue pentagons with stitches taken halfway on the short lines of the 6-part triangles.

I will do two rows on each pentagon at a time… two rows blue (matches wrap), two more rows blue, two rows orange. The goal is to almost fill in the centers of the first layer pentagons. Here are two rows stitched on the first pentagon.

Stitches taken on the short line of the 6-part triangle, thread travels across the center of the pentagon.

Hopefully I can get all of these large pentagons stitched this week leaving just a little bit to do next week to finish up the design.

Happy stitching!

Happy Monday!

I don’t have a complete temari to share today but I am happy to say that I at least have one started. I’ll post a pic and a diagram so if you are feeling adventurous you can stitch it along with me.

I am using a new-to-me fiber on this one. It is called El Molina from Presencia thread company (link opens in a new window). You may know them from their Finca perle cotton. El Molina is a loosely twisted rayon thread that is super shiny. I did a little experiment stitching with it maintaining the twist (like stitching with embroidery floss unstranded) and also with stitching with it and untwisting it to lay it flat as I went. Sorry the pics are a bit wonky, bad lighting at night when I took them. The thread is actually a really pretty yellow; not the sickly greenish yellow you see here.)

Right off the spool maintaining the twist

Untwisted and laid flat

I decided that I would do at least the first part of this temari using the ‘lay flat’ method. So far it is not too fussy but does require a bit of patience. This would be a good place to use a laying tool to smooth the threads as I go. (I generally just use the needle though.) I am working with much shorter lengths in the needle than usual (about 18 inches or enough to do 2 rounds on one of the pentagons).

Enough about fiber… what about the temari?

This design is from the Japanese book Owari Temari (ISBN 4-8377-0391-7) ball #3 on page 7. The original was done with shades of blue and white but I decided to go a bit brighter. You need a minimum of four colors for the design; one of them should match the wrap thread. The book example is marked invisibly but I used a little sparkle for my C10 marking.  (Oh, my ball is about 28cm and the thread width when stitched is close to 6 strands of floss.) I have yellow and bright blue for the pentagon layer that I am working on now. I will be adding blue (to match the wrap thread) and orange for the hexagon layer later that will create the stars.

Here’s a diagram of the start:

Stitch pentagons with points at the halfway mark on the short lines of the C10 pentagons. Alternate yellow and blue rows until the stitched pentagons meet at their corners.

Here’s a picture of what I have stitched so far (only three pentagons). There are two rows of each color… yellow, blue, yellow, blue. I will be adding yellow to the outside of each pentagon but not until after I have stitched all 12 so that I can make sure I get the corners to meet up nicely. (Hmmm. I notice in this picture that my marking lines are a little messy in that top pentagon. I’ll have to add a couple of tacking stitches to fix that.)

The rayon thread is beautiful so far and I like stitching with it although it is not as easy to work with as other fibers. I get a big grin on my face every time I walk by the ball and catch a glimpse of what I have stitched so far. It is beautiful! This week I am hoping to finish stitching the pentagons.

It has been awhile since I have posted a temari, but I finally have one to share!

I’ve been stitching, really. But most of what I am stitching right now is not for sharing here. It is driving me crazy to only be sharing thimbles on my ‘temari train of thought’ blog so DH suggested that I start Temari Monday just like I have Thimble Thursday. The plan is that I will keep a temari going that is for sharing here besides my other stitching. It may not get finished very quickly but at least I will be able to have in progress pics for a Temari Monday post. So, I’ll give it a go and see what happens. As usual, I make no promises but I’ll try to have a temari post once a week just like I have a thimble post once a week.

So, what’s the cargo in my train of thought? Well, this ball started out as a whoopsie. I had this fabulous yellow marking thread and I didn’t judge very well how much it would disappear on the pink background. But… it was a pretty nice C10 marking and I didn’t feel like taking it out so I changed the colors and design that it was slated for. For some reason the yellow marking thread on the pink made me lean towards orange and pink for design colors. It was going to be an all over design but I ran out of the light pink. Then I discovered that I really kinda liked the way it was shaping up without filling it all in. So I wrapped the thread bundles and added a few negative space accents. Voila!

BTW, I am still in the throes of redesigning my website, including the new and improved notebook (searchable!). I have gotten to the point where new temari go into the new notebook rather than the old one so there won’t be an online notebook entry available for this one until I get that project ready for public use.

In case you were wondering… I feel like I am juggling cats with all the little projects I have going right now.

I am very excited about my new temari.  It isn’t done yet so no picture today, but I am really, really happy with it so far and I wanted to share my excitement.

This is on the green mari that I showed you a bit ago.  It did not have a great start.  I was planning an HHG (Hite Hude Gake) type multipole so I dutifully marked the C10 and then used the Multiple of Three technique to mark until I had the number of shapes that I wanted.  Then, Darn!  The shapes were too small to do what I wanted.  So I ripped it all out.  (That seems to be a theme this year…)

I decided to just stick with something I knew would work so I dug into my temari books to find a design I liked.  I found one in the newest book I have , Thimbles and Flowery Temari (ISBN: 978-4-8377-0308-2).  When I dug into the instructions I found that the marking was done differently than the usual.  Rather than start with a standard division and add support lines as needed, this one started with basically a modified C10 marking, referred to as 20 triangles (more or less… I am guessing at the kanji I know).  Interesting.

So right off the bat I have something wonderful to engage my brain while I get started… why 20 triangles?  Why not just do the C10 and remove the lines at the end?  How would I mark it in an efficient manner?  And what’s up with all of the other designs in the book that use this marking?  It was one of those times that makes me wish I could read Japanese.  Maybe there was some nuance in the instructions to explain the thinking of the designer.

Anyway I marked the ball (more about that later, I promise) and got stitching with my new Vineyard silks.  Time for more excitement.  Since they are so soft I expected to have to baby them a bit but no!  They stitch wonderfully, maintaining their springiness, strength and shine even with using long lengths in the needle!

As I got more rows on the ball the feel of it changed from the slick rayon of the machine embroidery thread I wrapped with to the softness of the silk with the bumps from the stitching crossovers for interest and texture.  I love it when the ball feels good in your hands.

So, now I have to go find a green to match the wrap of the ball so I can finish this up.  I love what the colors did together and I love the way the design is coming out.  All I can say right now is ‘Wow!’ Pictures soon, I promise!