Thursday, June 18, 2020

Breaking News: Ridgewood Needlepoint Has a New Owner

Congratulations to the new owner of Ridgewood Needlepoint!
https://ridgewoodneedlepoint.com/2020/06/special-news-about-ridgewood-needlepoint/?fbclid=IwAR0RImT97r9ZRyLzv0JH21eN8f86WR6KvL4e94hXzppF7rwpOZlPdQwwJqc

https://ridgewoodneedlepoint.com/2020/05/a-note-from-ridgewood-needlepoint/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 18, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Pointing It Out Interviews the Lynch Clan

This week's interview at the Pointing It Out is with another family in the needlepoint business—Don Lynch of Associated Talents and his daughters Preston and Grace Lynch of Two Sisters Needlepoint.  (Guess who owns 37 needlepoint belts—and stitched 36 of them…?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxkDvdnBL2I

If you want to have fun exploring, here is the Associated Talents' website, starting with stitched examples.
http://atneedlepoint.com/CanvasLookup.asp?Category=Stitched

And here is the Two Sisters website, also their stitched examples.
https://www.2sistersneedlepoint.com/finished-models

P.S.  Here are the Stitch in Time Designs' little foreign people mentioned in the interview.
http://www.needlepoint-knitting.com/shop/Canvas/A-Stitch-In-Time-Designs.htm

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 6, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

How To Read Stitch Diagrams

If you are new to needlepoint, stitch diagrams may be a puzzle.  How exactly do you put something like mosaic stitch (first diagram in the link below) on needlepoint canvas?
https://napaneedlepoint.com/about-needlepoint/2016/08/13/mosaic-stitch/

An experienced needlepointer knows exactly how to proceed but if you have no experience, you are a bit at sea.  But not to worry!  Us old-timers have several tips for you.  The first tip is to look for a diagram that is numbered, like this one for mosaic stitch.
https://needlepoint-for-fun.com/pages/the-mosaic-stitch-in-needleoint-and-different-ways-to-use-it

The second tip is to tell you the standard numbering system needlepointers use in diagrams:  Take the needle up from the back at odd numbers (1, 3, 5, etc.) and put the needle down from the front into the canvas at even numbers (2, 4, 6…)

Up at odd numbers, down at even.  Easy to remember.  And it makes a numbered stitch diagram for things like mosaic stitch a lot easier to master.

The American Needlepoint Guild has some really good diagrams of basic stitches on their website that are available for anyone to refer to.
https://www.needlepoint.org/page/SOTM

StitchGuild has animated stitch diagrams which folks find very useful.  You have to set up an account and give them an email address but you won't get emails from them.
http://stitchguild.com

Needlepoint for Fun has some good diagrams in their stitch library, too.
https://needlepoint-for-fun.com/pages/needlepoint-stitch-library

Occasionally you'll find stitch diagrams marked with directional arrows, like this—just bring your needle up at the base of the arrow and go down at the tip.
https://www.sheenasstitches.com/paw-prints-heart/


Jean Hilton's ScottLee

If you fall in love with geometric designs from people like Jean Hilton (see above), Kurdy Biggs, Jim Wurth, or Kathy Rees, then invest in the two volume Twisty Stitches by Carole Lake.  These two books explain the stitches based on string art extremely well, show how each is done with tips like which stitches go on top and which go under previous stitches and include bonus diagrams for the variations on them, too.
https://stitchplay.com/books-for-needlepoint/

As you gain experience, you can explore other online resources for stitches.  I have a list of them called "Stitch Diagrams and Resources" down at the very bottom of the home page here at Blog.

Basically, experiment in the margins of your canvas.  The more you do this, the easier it gets.

As always, email me at chilly hollow at hot mail dot com for help if you get really stuck.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 5, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.