Winter Tree Skeletons

 Once the deciduous trees have lost all their leaves you are able to see the bare bones of the tree. The shapes look beautiful against a winter sky or a shadow though the mist.

Temari Balls

 In October I was introduced to Japanese Temari balls. They are very beautiful with embroidered colourful geometric patterns all over the surface.

I didn't think I would get on very well with them as they look very complicated but the way the patterns fitted together was quite logical and also fascinating.

You need to make a ball to support the surface decoration. I used old tights cut into strips that were wound round and round. Then the ball was wrapped in soft baby wool and finally a fine thread the colour of which would be seen.

The colours for the embroidery need to be chosen with the background colour.

A narrow strip of paper is used to mark the poles and then by folding it other points on the surface are marked with pins according to the chosen pattern.

The first pattern I embroidered was the square pattern and you can see the guidelines and pins to help with placing the pattern.

You can see how cleverly the geometric patterns fit together.

The second pattern I tried was the chrysanthemum and for this pattern I had to mark out the ball in 1/8 ths. 

They are quite fascinating to make and also quite addictive.