If You are Afraid of Spiders, Don't Look

This was too cute not to mention but if you don't like spiders, skip clicking on this link. 
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2013/10/the-invasion.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Halloween Present for You

Belleza and Her Spider Earrings

It's Halloween so I have a treat for you today.  The photo above shows a closeup of my Belleza, the Halloween Beauty canvas I stitched last winter for Tapestry Fair from Manual Salas' art.  Here's what the bare naked canvas looks like.  See how she has a spider on her chin and a spiderweb on her right cheek?
http://www.stitchtherapyneedlepoint.com/feature.php?id=22619&title=Belleza%20De%20Halloween&itemtype=hand%20painted%20canvases

If you look at the photo of Belleza above, there is a second spider just above her left eye.  Look over on the left side and you'll see a package of Pier One Halloween earrings.  I wanted to put one of them on this canvas but since I was writing a stitch guide, I couldn't.   There's no way that everyone who buys my guide will be able to find these earrings since Pier One has discontinued them.   I decided to come up with a way to recreate the spider earring in beads and silk.  As my Halloween present to you, here is how I did it.

First, you will need black floss (I used Splendor silk but cotton floss works just as well), a sharp needle (I used a beading needle), a bead and a bicone.

"A what?" someone in the audience asked. (I heard you!)

Bicones are crystals from Swarovski that are faceted and slightly oval pointed.  As you can see, they come in various sizes.  I used a 4mm purple bicone for my spider.
http://www.artbeads.com/swarovski-5301.html

A Closeup of the Spider

It doesn't matter what size bicone you choose but it will need to look proportionate to your bead.  The bicone is the spider's body while the bead is the head.  I used a size 11/0 bead in about the same purple as the bicone but if your spider is larger or wants a different body color than its head, that's perfectly ok.    Use larger bicones and beads and any color you like.  It probably is best not to use a bicone any smaller than 4mm, however.  You have to take the needle through the bicone's hole multiple times to make the spider and tiny holes will fill up fast with multiple passes of thread.

Here is the spider diagrammed.  To finish the spider you need to add another stitch on each side, going through the bead each time, to give it eight legs, four on a side. Just add a 5-6 stitch on one side and a 7-8 stitch on the other.  ( I didn't diagram that because of space constraints.  I didn't want the diagram too confusing.)  Pull each leg thread pass snug but not too tight.  You want to preserve the thread curve to give the spider nice legs.  Once the body and legs are in place, simply add the bead head.

Happy Halloween!

P.S.  If you want something larger and more elaborate for your piece, consider this beaded spider tutorial from Shawkl Designs.
http://www.shawkl.com/2011/09/beaded-spider-tutorial.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Pumpkin Playtime

Barbara Elmore profiled a customer's change to her dimensional pumpkin design today and it is fabulous!  Barbara and her sister did the finishing for both the original design and Fancy Stitches' customer's variant.  The moral of the story is don't be afraid to change things to suit yourself.  A masterpiece may be in the making.
http://stitchpography.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-pumpkkin-for-all-reasons.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Halloween Train

Needle Orts Rides the Halloween Train

Last week Needle Orts sent me photos of their version of Raymond Crawford's Halloween train. They are fabulous!  This is the same set that Linda of Stitching Sisters is working on.
http://nystitchingsisters.blogspot.com/2013/10/latest-finish_27.html

What Linda doesn't tell you is that the darning stitch pumpkin background of the train engine shown above is worked in glow in the dark thread (Petite Silk Lame Braid).  It is guaranteed to glow spookily--the staff all crowded into the bathroom at Needle Orts and turned off the lights to test how it looked.  Fabulous!

The Dearly Departed Peeks Out a Window

Debbie told me the hearse car has two beads for the dearly departed and they also added the Undertaker and Family Member to the windows above.

The Spooky Caboose and Its Passengers

However, my personal favorite is the caboose canvas, with its pumpkins, candelabra and black cat riding along to the funeral.  What fun!

You can see the original unstitched canvases at Raymond Crawford's website.  Look for Halloween Part Three.  Needle Orts' website is the second link in case you want to buy a ticket for the stitch guides ride.
http://www.raymondcrawford.com/designs/halloween/

http://www.needleorts.com

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.