This one was made for Chip and Jan, who raised Holstein cattle for a long time and have a lot of black-and-white decor in their home. It was completed sometime around December 2008 but I'd forgotten to get a photo of it until recently.

It's not based on any particular patter, but just a variety of starburst and star decorations in black and silver on a bone-colored background.

This is another version of the Ice Crystals pattern from Barbara Seuss' book. I still need to work on the initial spacing of the overlapping kikku mums because I still ran out of room to do more layers. This one I cheated a little to get a green row in.

This one was made for my daughter; after she lost her first tooth we put it inside the temari as the rattle. Completed February 2010.

I made this cartoon flowchart for the Kansas State Library's "Kansas Reads" program. Each year a book is selected and everyone is encouraged to read it and participate in book discussion groups and other related events. This year's selection is Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father, the memoir he wrote at age 30. Of course, it's a controversial selection for a very Red State, so the committee (including my former boss at the Salina Public Library, Nancy Jo) hoped to defuse a little of the controversy by using some comic-based promotional materials. This is what I came up with. (Lawrence-based cartoonist Dale Martin also drew a cartoon.)

You can also click for a high resolution version of the cartoon.

This was my first C10 division (essentially a decahedron), created for Penny Arcade's Katamari Forever contest. The goal was to make a Katamari of any sort, and I liked the name overlap and idea of making a temari that looked like the Katamari. Since I haven't played the game, I wasn't absolutely sure how many bumps the Katamari has but ten looked about right. I'd also considered doing extra layering of some sort to make the circles pop out, but ran out of time before the deadline. (One of the winners was actually a crocheted or knit Katamari, with bumps and magnets so it could pick up paper clips. Clearly, I was outclassed.)

I started with the "Heaven's River" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book, but then added six stars. It was made for Naomi, who is from Australia, so I used the colors of the Australian flag and then placed the stars roughly in the shape of the Southern Cross (one 5-pointed star and five 7-pointed stars). The intersection of the wrapped bands matches the Union Jack in the corner of the flag.

Completed September 2009.

The "Emperor" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book. This is the first temari I made using a 16-division and they needed to be pretty precise so the pattern wouldn't look lopsided. It's also the largest temari I've made to date, about 4" across, which actually made it hard to grip while embroidering.

Completed September 2009 for Robyn.

The "Ice Crystals" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book. I'm not entirely satisfied with the spacing of everything; the kiku herringbones should go closer to the center, allowing space for more threads in the pattern. Completed September 2009 for Ann.

Another version of Barbara Suess' "Long Life" pattern, this time colored closer to the original in the book. Completed September 2009 for Holly and Peder.

The "Striped Obi" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book. The "obi" is the band around the equator, and comes from the term for the sash around the waist of a traditional kimono. This was my largest temari to this point, at about 3.5" in diameter. (Most of the others are less than 3".) Completed August 2009 for Arlie and Beth but most of all Annie, who loves Voltron, which explains the color choices.

My second attempt at pattern 99DA02, this time in blue. Again, though, I wasn't paying attention and made a mistake, this time in another direction. Still, I liked how it turned out and I added a diamond to fill in the empty space. Completed August 2009, given to Genevieve and Nick.

The "Blue Arrows" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book, but with the obvious difference in color. The pattern is repeated on the other side, with a simple obi. Completed August 2009 for Emily.

The "Long Life" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book. The hexagon pattern calls to mind a turtle shell, but I also liked the hidden Star of David in the pattern. This was a wedding gift for Elizabeth and Dan, completed in August 2009 (while in Vermont at their wedding).

I saw this pattern on TemariKai.com and really liked the look of it. I decided to try it in red first. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying close enough attention while working on it and got some of the embroidery on the wrong axis. I liked the look of it despite the mistake, but I then tried again later. Completed August 2009.

The "Empress" pattern from Barbara Suess' Japanese Temari book. Created for Sunny and Dan as a prize for Robyn's Avon Walk fundraising, completed August 2009.

My own pattern made for our friends' daughter Olive. Completed May 14, 2009.