Tension -- in stitching that is

I am a self professed thread control freak -- a tension-holic when it comes to all forms of fiber work. This does not mean that I am tight with my work, but rather I want the thread to be controlled. I want it to be in its spot and not wobbly. I want it to stay in place and do its job. For some needlework or fiber work this means letting up on the thread and in other applications it means pulling like crazy on the thread -- and everything in between.

I have also realized that I don't feel comfortable with a technique until I find the right way to control the tension. This may include needing to adjust each time I do the technique; as the materials used will have some affect on the need for the amount of tension/control.

I am not a perfectionist. I will not frog my work until it is "right". I will frog if absolutely required and I will spend some time futzing with it until I am okay with the outcome. I admire those who have the perfectionist gene, but I accept that it is not in me.

That all said -- I have been spending my time doing lots of Temari. I started last year with an introduction class and then tried to play a bit on my own. Then I discovered that Barbara Suess was giving online classes through Shining Needle Society and an EGA Correspondence Course (GCC).



My first one is the cream with gold, red, and green lines. Then I attempted the green ball from Temarikai.com. I returned and finished the green ball recently after the Morning Glory class. The other cream ball is called Mitsubishi (4 diamonds) and that was my 2nd workshop with the same teacher as the first class. Then having learned a complex 8 division (yes there is a whole new language to learn too) I did the black rainbow ball using a color wheel.

Color -- OMG there is so much to learn about color when doing Temari! I am finally finding that I really need to resort to a color wheel and understand about tints, etc. Up to now I've just used my fairly refined color sense. I guess no more short cuts.


This is Barbara Suess's online class - Morning Glory. Learned lots and had fun so signed up for Echo Star as well. More on that soon.



This is the GCC course. I will be shipping my balls to Barbara Suess for evaluation next week. It was an interesting learning experience. All 3 balls were 25 - 25.1 cm in diameter. I was REAL careful on doing the divides, but you would be surprised how much off something is even at 1-2 mm difference (big sigh!). Of course I can see the errors, but most people will not so I am supposed to give myself a break on this :)

Am using the Temari to break up all the administration and other work that I do for EGA. Wrapping balls is almost meditative. The stitching is creative and helps create a "good space" which is important thinking time.

Now back to "work". Will take time to go to a class on Or Nue with Lucy Barter from the Royal School of Needlework this weekend. Then next week will do some cooking for the holidays. I'm bringing dessert so have pulled out my family recipe for Pecan Pie. It is from a distant relative's grandmother who was from Louisiana. Yummy!

Have a great holiday and may all your tension be in your stitching!