You've probably seen or at least heard of the transfer pens that can be used to mark your canvas and which are supposed to be water soluble. DMC has a new fine-tipped embroidery transfer pen that Mary Corbet has been testing.
She likes it and says it does a fine line if you use steady pressure. She says cool water does "erase" the line but there is a residue left behind that might turn brown over time. I would add that heat sets the blue ink, so don't leave your stitching in a car in the summer or iron over these lines. In my experience, sometimes they vanish overnight without any water being applied if it is very humid. I've had them never vanish at all, even with cold water used on a Q tip. So these are products to be used with caution, but they are very useful for marking your background area or perhaps marking the center of the top, bottom, right and left sides of your needlepoint canvas. I use mine for that sort of thing often as the blue line areas will be cut off in the end or covered in finishing.
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