Scary Eyes

I've been stitching background for three days now and have almost 25% of the background done.  WHEW!  The Alternating Cashmere Pairs take a long time to stitch.  I needed a break so I decided to make scary eyes.

The empty black eyes on the Noh mask are dramatic and impressive and the central focus of this canvas.  I decided I would bead them to make them glittery and impressive.  I rummaged around in my stash and found two sets of black hex beads, one from Sundance (probably size 14 beads although they aren't labeled) and one of Magnifica hex beads from Mill Hill.  (Before I forget, hex beads are faceted six sided beads, not the rounded smooth ones. Hex beads reflect the light and make very scary eyes.)

We know from the Mill Hill website that Magnifica beads are size 12s.   The size 14 Sundance beads are smaller than the Magnificas.  However, both sizes are smaller than the size 11 (also written as 11/0) beads that Fireside Stitchery used to recommend for 13 count canvases like O'jishi.  What to do?

Well, I could go shopping but that would mean putting O'jishi away until I could get to a place that sells beads, which means waiting until next March probably.  (sigh)

I could abandon beading the eyes and do something else, like go back to Endless Background.  (shudder)

Or I could Figure It Out.  I opted for Figure It Out!

The most common way of beading canvases these days is to stitch every other thread in a row to be covered with beads with tent stitches.  Then you go back and attach the beads in the threads you skipped.  If I do that, I may mute the glittering effect of the hex beads which I don't want to do.  I want the drama mask's eyes to bore right through the viewer.

So I decided to bead each and every stitch, not every other stitch.  The end result is pictured above. I decided to use the Sundance beads which seem just a bit more sparkly than the Magnifica beads.  When I finished I could see bare canvas or holes between the beads in spots, so I stitched in a bead here and there to cover these places.  The outside edge of each eye looks a bit ragged here and there but I think when I do the rest of the eyes, those rough edges will be masked by stitches.

I attached my beads with a doubled length of black silk thread, but that's what I happened to have at hand.  I have some Nymo in my stash tool box but I didn't bother to haul it out.  Which brings us to the next topic--what is Nymo?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
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