Sunday, January 16, 2011

Still here

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this entry today.  I have not stitched on my Waterlily Pond since my last post.  I only have 3 followers and I'm in touch with them regularly.  What have I been doing?  Well, getting over Christmas was tough.  My Mom passed away in August and it was hard without her.  Also, I find the holidays particularly exhausting and I never do a whole lot to celebrate anyway.  Fortunately, the time hasn't been a total loss.  I started a Blackwork project in the interim.  It's called The Needlewoman.  It was a challenge getting the right thread for this pattern.  It had to be a single strand of silk.  The pattern recommended Au Ver a Soie 100/3 silk and it's difficult to find.  After an extensive search I finally found a website that had the colors listed.  My local store can order the silk but they don't have a color chart.  I wanted a dark sage green and I got more of a moss green.  Still nice but not exactly what I wanted.  I certainly wasn't going to keep ordering floss, 1 spool at a time until I found the exact color.  So on November 30, this is what I had accomplished:


Not sure why it's so yellow.  I have never tried Blackwork before.  Years ago I took (through the Embroider's Guild of Canada) an intensive course on Counted Thread Embroidery and Blackwork was one of the lessons.  I didn't learn a thing from it and therefore, was apprehensive in trying it.  But as it turned out, I LOVED it!!!  It stitched up pretty quick.  At least the columns did.  December 9th had the following:



Things were starting to get tricky.  The detail on the gown and the woman's face was particularly painful.  For some areas, I had to draw out the stitches on graph paper.  The quality of the pattern unfortunately was really poor.  A photocopy with very thick lines.  Not easy to understand when stitching such fine detail.  So after things settled down from Christmas, I finished the project in January, and this picture was taken January 10.  You'll notice I have a ruler in every picture.  If you zoom in, you'll probably be able to see that the picture is only about 4.5" wide.  On 32 ct linen, that's pretty detailed.


It's so funny.  I have projects to work on, such as the one this blog is dedicated to, and I see a project that catches my eye and I HAVE to do it, no matter what.  It's always a thrill for me (simple pleasures) gathering the supplies needed for a new project, especially if there are hard to find items.  It's almost more fun that the work itself.

So now, instead of the pond, I'm working on a bell pull in Ukrainian drawn thread embroidery.  This is proving to be a challenge as I'll need to do some sewing.  The sewing machine I got for Christmas will soon be running!

2 comments:

  1. This piece is GORGEOUS!
    I can't wait to see it framed. You took it to the framer's didn't you? He's have it for you soon, won't he?
    I love that guy; he's going to do a job WORTHY of your work...!

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