Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Barbara Bergsten Holiday Collection Sale Nov. 8-10

For the next three days, Barbara Bergsten's Holiday Collection is on sale at The Needlepointer. The canvases are ten percent off but if you buy threads at the same time, you'll get an additional ten percent off the canvas price.  Here is the sale collection.
http://www.theneedlepointer.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&zenid=2u5jd5hplg1fd9b47ljln0fcl0&cPath=76&sort=20a&filter_id=104

By the way, Seinfeld fans--



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

Cat Topiary Garden Thread Dye Lot Problem and Solutions

Problem Area
Despite my having two partial spools of Trebizond Silver 953 here in CH, I ran out of this medium silver color while working the right hand cat statue. I called up the local shop that I knew stocks Trebizond and ordered a spool (plus some other goodies I'll report on later) and it arrived Saturday. Hurrah!

Sadly, the dye lots had changed substantially and all of a sudden Silver 953 was much darker.  In the photo above, the right leg is the original Silver 953 while the left leg is the new spool of Silver 953.  The circled area is where I mixed threads to get by.  See my problem?  I've never had this issue with Trebizond before but some threads (I'm looking at YOU, Watercolours!) are notorious for dyelot changes.  This is why you always should buy plenty of thread.  However, with two partial spools and not that much area to cover, I thought I'd be ok.  Much of the second cat statue was done in half cross stitch, by the way, which uses much less thread than the basketweave of the left cat statue.  I still ran out, though, and ended up with two shades of silver. So I did what any stitcher would do--I rummaged through my stash. I had a similar silver in Presencia perle cotton but it didn't have the sheen of the silk Trebizond and didn't look right.  I did have Trebizond 951 which is very light silver, however.  So I plied the light 951 and the dark 953 and experimented to see what mix of plies got me closest to the original 953.  I ended up stitching the rest of the right cat statue with two plies of 951 and one of 953.  If I worked carefully so that the 953 showed more than the 951, it came close to the original 953 color.

Can I get by with this?
It is not perfect but it is ok.  There are things I can do to minimize the color difference.  I can put a few lines of darker grey on top of the legs to do shading.  That will minimize the color differences.  I could create a blooming vine to climb up the problem left leg and shoulder. That will also fool the eye which will look at the vine, not the leg.  If the cats were supposed to be real cats, not statues, I might try brushing the threads to make them fuzzy, which would also hide the color change.  But for now I'm tent stitching the green leaves around the cat statues' feet and working on the small cat topiary in the background while I think all this over.  Anyone else have ideas on hiding dye lot changes?


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

Introducing the Acorn Magnet

The latest magnet from Accoutrement Designs is a sparkling fall acorn. Bet the squirrels will be fighting over this one!
http://fobfriends.blogspot.com/2011/10/final-fall-magnet.html


ritten by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

New DMC Website Reviewed

Janet Perry has taken a look at the new DMC website and she is not pleased by its organization and the lack of respect for needlepointers.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/dmcs-new-website-website-review

To tell you the truth, I sympathize. DMC's website has always been lacking. I found the old version hard to navigate and finding the DMC online color card was never easy.  (It still takes five clicks inside the website to find the PDF file that shows the floss colors.)  Needlepointers never get much respect at DMC, although their blog is somewhat better.  Here's the site (and the blog link is down the page on the left) so you can judge for yourself.
http://www.dmc-usa.com/

I think part of the problem is the huge number of products DMC carries.  The other part of the problem is that needlepointers are fewer in number.  Companies want to appeal to the broadest market possible so they sell as much as possible.  That's why Kreinik talks quilts, fishing flies and more on their blog and why ThreadworX is trying to expand to other crafts like felting.  Needlepoint is a small part of the stitching world.

The only way to really get clout is become a big market for thread companies.  So buy threads today or teach someone to needlepoint.


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