Purple Versus Black

I worked a bit on the H-Q row of couched stitches for Glittering Kimonos last night, kept going by my mental debate over which stitch would look best in the black areas of my "fabric" side of South Seas Fiji.

I tried knotted stitch (the stitch used on the large Cape Cod Dogs) and padded tent stitch (which is just a long length of thread laid diagonally across an area and then covered in tent stitches) and thought about more couching (shudder). I considered interlocking Goblein but finally ended up using basketweave and a few continental stitches in the black area as you see above.

My tent stitches are done with two plies of Splendor silk in black S801 which gave me a velvety black surface that wasn't too thick. I tested both Impressions (a silk/wool blend) and Baroque Silk (a silk perle that can be plied into three parts) and decided those were really too dimensional. I like the slight sheen of Splendor anyway. The other two threads have a sheen also but you need a longer stitch than a tent stitch to see it in Baroque Silk in my opinion and Impressions doesn't have quite as much shine as Splendor. After all, Impressions is 50% wool.

I didn't get a lot done last night in the black areas as I also couched another 2-3 sections of the sea green with my overdyed Thread Gatherer's silk. It looks very pretty but is tedious to do.

In the photo above I've laid out two grape colored threads so you can see what the black areas are supposed to be painted to look like. (On the left is Splendor S1026 and on the right Gloriana Grape.) They are very pretty with the colors of the design but I still prefer my black patches.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
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