Busy Busy

I'm continuing to work on Stars, but there have so many messages posted on other things this week, I have neglected to update you on my progress.

But before I do that, here's more news--Kreinik has a new thread out called Easter Grass which looks like cellophane.  I expect it'll work for glass, candy wrappers, anything transparent.  Judging from the photographs, it looks a lot like dede Odgen's clear Prisms if you are familiar with that thread.   I'm indebted to Peacock Alley Needlepoint for this information--many thanks!
http://www.kreinik.com/kshop/product.php?productid=17209&cat=290&page=1

I also wanted to alert fans of Ehrman's needlepoint kits that some of them are on sale at a good price. This link takes you to the "choose your country" page where you have to pick one before you go on to the sale.  Sorry.  That's how the site is set up.
http://www.ehrmantapestry.com/newprod.cfm?Currency=1

If you are looking for eye candy, I have some great finishes for you.  Jan has framed her latest two stitches and they are magnificent!  Jan is better known for her original designs based on rugs, especially Moroccan rugs, but when she does other people's work, she does a terrific job.
http://threadmedley.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/framed-and-ready-to-go/

Pocket Full of Stitches just took delivery of three new pillows from their finisher and posted photos of the great results.  You'll have to double click on the photos to see the details like the Happy Catoween buttons on the Brenda Stofft Halloween pillow.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2011/01/finishing-day.html

They've also posted photos of the new shaded Petite Very Velvet.  Need a subtle shaded red Santa coat?  This is the thread! Note the photo of the cover of SuZy Murphy's new small summary book.
http://pocketfullofstitches.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-very-velvet.html

If you are curious about the shaded Very Velvet, Janet Perry has done a nice review of how it stitches up.  Note that Very Velvet is sized for 13 count canvas and Petite Very Velvet is sized for 18 count.  Don't buy the wrong size by accident!
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/shaded-very-velvet-thread-review

Finally, I wanted to let my counted canvaswork friends know that Lizart is finalizing a new design.  The white and silver model is stitched, so now Liz must finish charting this lovely bargello pattern and try to keep her head above water from all the emails of folks asking to be notified when the chart's ready.
http://lizartblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/white-noise.html

Now, back to Stars!  This photo at the top of this Blog entry shows the little woven lozenge shapes that surround the central star.  They are supposed to be in my copper metallic but I decided to use my terracotta instead. The next two steps use black and violet, so I thought terracotta would look better than my metallic copper which already dominates the latticework and doesn't show off the intricate stitches in the lozenges well.  In this photo you see one of the black half crescents that fill the space between the terracotta lozenges underway.  You are supposed to do one half of the shape, then the other, but I messed that up so many times that I am trying to build both sides as I go.  The final step will be a few violet straight stitches slanting up either side of the black crescents.  But I am having so much trouble with this it might be a while before I get to those.

Of course stitching after another hectic day means the instructions don't make sense and counting holes accurately is impossible. Fortunately, a good night's sleep will fix the problem.  (I hope.)

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow