My original plans for my Saturday afternoon involved going to the mall to buy some thread for a future project (it's always nice to have everything you need on hand just in case you decide to start the project early!) and check out the latest patterns and kits. But bang went all my plans to buy more thread from my favorite needlestore because of the sad news. :(
I finally settled down enough to do a little work on a long neglected piece.. the Whimsey and Wit Advent Calendar. Ta daaa!
with flash..
And settling down to do it, I realized why I'd set it aside... I was having difficulty with counting on linen! :-p Strictly an amateur, I've only had one other project (the Madonna and child on 22ct hardanger) on non-Aida cloth, and I still haven't finished that one! ! Feeling all my inadequacies here, I set the piece aside again and read up a few tips on working with linen.. that is, if tattersall is linen?
Then, since the chart specified "Cadet" and "Sea Foam" WD (found out it was Weeks Dye) floss and I didn't have that, I had to decide which shades of blue thread fit best... I still don't know if I got the shades right, but I like what I chose.. :)
All these dilemmas gave me a different focus for a few hours, and hopefully a few more hours today, til W-O-R-K comes round again tomorrow. My goal is to finish stitching Baby Jesus (yup, that's part of his blue swaddling cloth up there). I will be stitching away... :)
ps. Thank you for your comments; they are always welcome! Even more so now, as I stitch on linen.. did you know that there is a "good end" and a "not so good end" to each side of your thread? And you have to do a fluff test to see which side to start with? I didn't know that! I just read up on it last night (and I can't remember now where I read it - it's either Cross Stitch and Country Crafts, Cross Stitch and Needlework, or For the Love of Cross Stitch magazine!)
pps. In another entry there was this same project displayed.. blue stitching too! That was the angel motif on the calendar.. I still can't find the chart, and am working on the photocopy I made- only Days 10-24! would you believe it! $%^&** Anyway, I'm sure the chart will turn up.
Happy Weekend to all of us!
It is always sad at lay offs. My company has done 3 the last 2 years and we that are left dont feel very well. We never know when the next time arrives. Glad that you are still employed!
ReplyDeleteHi Beauty - sorry to hear about work. We went through the same thing about 2 years ago. It was so badly planned and executed that we had to wait finding out if we had a job for about 3 months. When it was finally done and over with, they announced that it wasn't enough and we had to go through a second round. Productivity was way down for months after that....
ReplyDeleteSo, I have stitched on linen for decades now and I know that some stitchers are waaaay more OCD than others. I just pick an orientation/side and start. I also pretty much only stitch in-hand and use the sewing method. I am fairly certaine that none would be able to guess what techniques I use at the end of the day.
Just test a bunch of different ways to stitch and then pick what suits you the best! :-)
I can tell you though, that the pretty linen that you got on sale (the light blue or purple one - 32 ct, that you showed in your "surprise stash" picture in a previous post) does not have 32 threads per inch both horizontally and vertically. I know, since I stitched something on that same linen type and it ended up being "elongated". You should probably verify and count the warp and weft threads per inch before you use it. Even if your linen shows up not to be symmetrical, you can always use it for finishing - that's what I will do, since it is a pretty color!