Last night I ripped out the left side of O'jishi's jaw and restitched it in my Gloriana silk (Lacquered Gold) so I could see if stitching the entire Noh mask in light coverage gold silk would tie the whole piece together. The photo above shows the difference in using the gold silk and in matching the jaw colors to various silks. I got as much of the face in the photo as I could. In person, the painted canvas under the light coverage stitches shows better than it does in the photograph but covering paint with another color of thread does mute the effect.
I used Brenda Hart's balloon stitch on the left side of the jaw. Balloon stitch isn't in any of Brenda's books (although she has larger versions). I saw the stitch diagrammed in an interview Janet Perry did with Brenda years ago for the About.com needlepoint site and it's become a favorite of mine because it is so pretty, can be enhanced with metallic stitches between the round shapes, and because it is so small in scale. It comes in handy in tiny spaces and is easily compensated.
Here's how it is done.
Just work a straight stitch over two threads, then two straight stitches over four threads, then do a straight stitch over two threads again. Note how the shorter stitches bookend the larger ones. I worked my first row in red, then worked the second row in white. On the right side of the red row you see the next white row all stitched. On the left side of the red row you just see how you put the small stitch of the new row between the small stitches of the previous row. Ordinarily I like to work this stitch diagonally, working a "red" stitch, then moving to the right and doing a "white" stitch on the SE diagonal. But O'jishi's jaw is quite narrow so I just did vertical rows of stitches as diagrammed above.
I think balloon stitch works well with the large unnamed round stitch on O'jishi's center forehead and nose and also with the smaller old gold coins stitches elsewhere on his face. What do you think? Should I change colors to all gold? Should I stick with the original stitch and colors? My instinct is to stitch the right side of O'jishi's jaw in gold balloon stitches but I am interested in your opinion.
Almost forgot: In the above photograph O'jishi's other eye is stitched. I'm debating whether to add some thin gold metallic on top of the stem stitches. I am a bit afraid that will detract from the glitter of his beaded black pupil, however. Any thoughts on that?
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
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