The face is almost done on my Rabbit Geisha, but I looked at the above photo and decided the gray base of the ear on the right side was too dark. I copied the shading painted on the canvas here but I think the gray is just too dark. Fortunately, when you are using random long and short stitches, it is very easy to lighten or darken areas. I threaded up my needle with white and added a bit on top of the gray to lighten the area. This is what I ended up with.
I still need to finish the tip of the darker ear but I am undecided about whether to make that light gray or white. I think I'll work some background around the geisha's face before I decide. I think the blue background will make the fur colors look a bit different so I will wait to make up my mind.
By the way, I've used four plies of Splendor S884 to cover the nose of the geisha with long stitches. I think I put in 6-7 of them right on top of the tent stitches that originally were the nose, and on top of each other until I got the smooth look I wanted.
So I spent the last part of my stitching session yesterday working on the lower skirt, using half of a Tony Minieri stitch. The stitch itself is called Sally's Diamonds.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2009/aug.php
It is done in two steps but I altered the stitch into Half Tony by turning the chart for the bottom half of the stitch on its side, then sttiching that part without adding the second half on top. It looks sort of floral when stitched and also has a long line with a rounded bulge look that resembles the tassels around the geisha's waist. Here's the diagram for Sally's Diamonds for the bottom area from ANG's website, rotated so you can see how I am stitching this.
I am using two plies of Mandarin Floss #M912 which is a golden sand color. Less of the paint shows than I expected, so I may try using just one ply and see how it looks. I've not decided whether to add anything to the empty stops in the stitch or not yet. Any stitch can be expanded/shrunk/turned/altered to suit you. All it takes is a little imagination and some test stitching.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
