Maki Kagari AFL Temari

I didn't actually plan it at the start, but this is how it turned out. Last week I made a bunch of balls to compare the Cup measurement technique for filling temari cores.  I had always suspected that all cups were not equal and now I have proven it as far as rice hull and dryer lint anyway....

So as I had plenty of smaller sized balls I ended up making three balls made for one TK Maki (wrapped band) Kagari stitch along this week. I have also learned to mark a C8 by eye instead of measuring and have been practicing this new skill. I made several balls without measuring when I first took up temari making but I decided it really wasn't scientific enough as a techique so I stopped.... I bet with a bit more practice I could get quite good at this... It does save time with not needing to pin but then I am slower at actually wrapping the marking lines this way so it is probably no quicker just now.

The first one (top left in WCE colours) was wrong... due to an assumption of the instructions rather than the actual instructions. I really like it anyway. The second one (front in Dockers colours) was right... thanks to actually reading and following the instructions... and the third one (top right in Magpie colours) was just me wanting to cover all the marking lines.

In our family we support 3 different AFL teams (Australian Rules Football) Two teams are from Perth and the other is from Victoria.  It is almost the end of the season now and there is only 2 more weeks of finals until the grand final which is held on the last Saturday in September. Sadly, my team the West Coast Eagles (WCE) have been eliminated from the finals... OK they didn't qualify... alright they came last in the competition. Fremantle Dockers, my son's team, are in the finals for only the 5th time ever... OK they have only been in the competition since 1995. The Magpies aka Collingwood, is my husband's team. They are the team most people love to hate, established in 1892, they have only managed to win one AFL grand final... OK they did win 13 grand finals in the predecessor of the AFL which was the VFL. My worst scenario is that Fremantle and Collingwood will face off in the 2010 AFL Grand Final. That will be a terrible 100 minutes of viewing in our house followed by weeks of crowing/crying.

So like our recent federal election (held on August 21, 2010 for which we still have no result) choosing a team to barrack for in the Grand Final this year is more like eliminating the teams you least want to see playing until you reach just two teams... then deciding which of those two you would be least crushed to have win.

All this spot stuff is fun but actually pretty irrelevant, with major flooding in Pakistan, and on the east coast of Australia, people getting hit in major storms down the eastcoast of USA and a huge earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. I hope wherever you live you're safe and dry today.

Temari from socks and jocks

Perhaps that should read making mari from socks and jocks because I haven't stitched a design on this experiment yet.  I think it was Debi A who mentioned  using her family's odd and old socks for her temari bases and when I was updating the boy's underwear last week I decided that I'd try it too.  I have only made one 31cm ball so far (little feet = many socks per ball). I'm not sure how it will be to stitch into as it seems rather dense and heavy compared to my usual favorite (rice hull).  I have also partly balled up some clean knickers... sorry jocks... my 8yo son tells me they are jocks not knickers. But these are harder to get balled up with the elastic waist band so I may pull them apart and shred them before slipping back into a sock.

Of course there will be no temari today due to a nasty bee sting in the center of my right palm. I can't close my fingers with enough strength to hold the needle.... and can only just manage to type.  So I am off to the kitchen today to make soap... a craft I can do with my left hand.

1st rice hull cores made

Last week when our group met we all tried making our balls from rice hull. Having never used anything other than styrofoam it was hard to believe that we could make a cup of loose husks into anything resembling a round ball. We used freezer bags to hold the hull and loosely twisted the bag closed then wrapped the remaining bag around its contents. Next we began wrapping with wool using a thicker than normal wool wrap so that when we pin the core stays intact. Lastly the thread wrap went on and to our amazement the lumpy bags had somehow turned into perfectly rounded balls. We all now realise why some people are so passionate about making their own mari, and while we will probably still use foam cores from time to time - we are now rice hull devotees too! I headed back to T.W.O.C. on Saturday for 5 more kilos of hull and spent the better part of the afternoon dividing it up for our group.

Buying Rice Hulls ～土台作りにもみ殻はいかが？～

What to use for your temari core??? Almost anything can be used, Styrofoam, rice hulls, dryer lint, scraps of fabric, stockings or socks and plastic shopping bags are all options.

Rice Hulls are a more traditional core for temari making. They can be hard to find and cannot be imported to Australia. You should be able to find them at specialty home brew suppliers in your area. Due to their volume-per-kilo they are bulky and most sellers will not post them. If you live in Perth, we recommend T.W.O.C. Home Brew Supplies. They are located at 2/40 Port Pirie Street, Bibra Lake. Roy can pack the hulls into 500g bags. I recommend buying 1 kilo (atleast) at a time.

皆さん、何で手毬を作っていますか？
発泡スチロールのボール、もみ殻、乾燥機を使ったときにでる
わたというかほこり？も使えるみたいですよ。
あとは糸くずやはぎれ、使い古しの靴下、プラスチックの袋なんか
もいいみたい。つまり何でもいいのか。。。

手毬の会のメンバーも、もみ殻で毬作りに挑戦。
まんまるにするのが難しいかなーと思ったら結構いける！！
しかも手に持ったときの重量がたまらなくしっくりきて、なんと
愛着のわく毬になったことでしょう。

今まで発泡スチロールのボールを使っていたけど、発泡スチロール
のは石油できているもの。環境には良くなさそう。
もみ殻なら、自然のものだし、ごみになる部分を再利用できるから
リサイクルしつつ、安く、いい土台が作れますね。素敵！！

そのもみ殻、税関の厳しいオーストラリアでは手に入るのかな、
と探したところ西オールトラリア州パースでは
T.W.O.C. Home Brew Suppliesで手に入ります。
アドレスは 2/40 Port Pirie Street, Bibra Lakeです。
Royさんという方に問い合わせてみてくださいね。