Fan's Sleeves and Border

Over the weekend I picked up little Fan and started stitching away again. I've doubled the size of the border that's stitched, worked on her yellow hair oranment, and stitched the yellow edge to her kimono at her neck and sleeves.

For the border, I have occasionally around her head added a row to the alternating bundles of three stitches. I'm not sure if you can see this but in a few places there was a space next to a bundle that didn't look right if I did the stitches the way they go alternating -- bundles with ones. The thing to remember in compensating stitches is to make them look right instead of doing them right, and occasionally you'll do something that isn't right to get the correct look. Remember in NP that it is the overall look you are aiming at, not getting all the stitches compensated the way they should be.

The yellow dot of a hair ornament is just padded silk floss in the same yellow as the border. I did four layers before I got the look rounded enough. I have not decided whether to remove the orange beads or add more yet. Still mulling that one over! I think I need to finish her hair before I really decide this point. Stitching a painted canvas is often a wait-and-see process since everything you stitch effects everything else. Ripping out can be your friend; so can waiting patiently to make up your mind.

The edging of the kimono is long slanted stitches. I am not sure about the left sleeve yet. The curve that varied quite a bit and I turned Fan on her side with her fan on the right edge to stitch it with the slants the way the sun comes up across the horizon--slanting right and left and also pointing straight up. This made it a bit more jagged-looking than the right sleeve. I am not sure what to do about this yet. I can pull it out and stitch it slanting one way or overstitch that left sleeve to smooth the rough edges. Again, I'll think about this while I do other things.

In other words, stay tuned to see what I decide.

Juanita The Mexican Lady in Size 13 -- or Size 18?

Today we don’t have the weekly update on Juanita, the Mexican Lady canvas from Melissa Shirley that is an adaptation of a Linda Carter Holman painting called “Secrets.” Janet Moyer needs the week off to do other things, but she’ll be back a week from today to finish this piece. I thought I’d take the opportunity of Janet’s absence to talk about things I’ve noticed while sitting in the audience with you, watching Janet stitch her lady to life. To that end I’ve put the largest and most recent photo we have of Juanita above. Here’s a link to a photo of the canvas unstitched, courtesy of Laura Zickas who took the photograph for Needle Nook of La Jolla.

http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/proddetail.php?prod=ch118-2

The canvas Janet is working on is 13 count. This design is available on 18 count as well. I have stitched one 13 count piece in my NP career. I just like the extra detail on 18 count canvas. But I’ve noticed that 13 count allows Janet to do some things she couldn’t do on 18 count, like use sequins and fancy trim which I think might have been too large to use on 18 count. The hat’s sequins look very nice on Juanita’s hat but they might be too close together if this were an 18 count canvas. They are spaced perfectly right now but on a smaller scale, they might look all wrong. The special sequin trim also might not work on a smaller scale skirt. And the pearl necklace, earrings and diamond ring might not have looked so good unless Janet had been able to find smaller beads and findings to use to create them on 18 count the same way she did on 13 count.

Certainly the fabric calla lilies would be harder to make if they needed to be about 1/3 smaller for a smaller 18 count version of this design. Trying to attach tiny things to canvas is harder than trying to attach slightly larger things. I doubt the artificial roses Janet considered using would work at all on 18 count. They would be too large--Remember, Janet said she would have to take them apart and trim them if she ended up using them on her 13 count version of Juanita.

I also noticed that Janet was used Sampler Thread flosses for her open background stitch and for the white shawl she used Elegance which is a silk perle thread about the size of #8 perle. I think this silk perle thread might look less lacy on 18 count and Janet might have to use the smaller #12 perle instead. This might or might not be an issue, depending on the “look” one was trying to achieve. One would need fewer plies of Sampler Thread for the background, even if you are doing an open stitch. Things like this are just different on a smaller or larger count canvas, and worth considering. If you are used to one size canvas and that’s all you stitch, you are going to find you’ll need more/less plies or perhaps a different type or brand of thread altogether when you go up or down.

Another thing to consider when trying to decide whether to take home a design in 13 or in 18 count is the threads you have easily available. If you are used to #8 perle, you might have to go up a size to #5. Can you easily buy #5 perle cotton? You will need more thread to cover the larger area so remember to buy more than usual. Trio is the new smaller version of Silk n Ivory (a silk/wool blend in a single strand like tapestry wool). If you adore using Silk n Ivory on 13 count canvases, you will have to use Trio instead on 18 count. Usually Silk n Ivory is just too fat to go in the holes (although this does depend on what stitch you have chosen.)

I guess what I’ve learned from watching Janet is that a higher count canvas than what I usually buy means more thread and perhaps a different type/brand than my usual favorites, but there are unique possibilities that open up in what I might do with a design. Luckily I have a gorgeous huge red orchid from JP Designs in my stash on 13 count so eventually I’ll be able to try going up a size.

Wisdom from Jay

But you may not know who Jay Patterson is. He's the stitching genius in the company. I thought you might like to spend a bit of time with Jay this morning. He's summarized 20 years of stitching information on a page on the RG website.

http://www.rainbowgallery.com/stitchinghints.html

Jay also has tips on how to use the various specialty threads that RG sells. Bookmark this one--you'll use it again and again!

http://www.rainbowgallery.com/jaystips.htm

Color Play

I think that folks who prefer counted thread geometric designs are much braver about changing color than folks who prefer working hand painted canvases. I rarely change colors on my painted canvases. I buy them because I like the colors, after all. But I know my friends who love charts also love playing with color. Because I am always trying to be a better stitcher, then I need to know more about color so I can play, too!

In pursuit of knowledge of how to tame the wild charted design, I signed up for Gay Ann Roger's classroom on Yahoo Groups, where I discovered a bonus in that she is talking about color. I've been sitting there in the back of the class, listening, while Gay Ann held color exercises, asking folks to pick their favorite photos from magazines and then analyze what they choose and why. This stumped me, I admit. I have no problem finding pictures I like but figuring out what colors they held seemed very hard until I found Kris' blog (she seems to be a graphic designer) where all the work was done for me.

http://color-stripes.blogspot.com/

I choose a photo that appealed to me (March 13), picked up a set of DMC flosses in the colors of the stripes underneath the picture, and went to the ANG Stitch of the Month website to play around with my choices. The photo above is the result.

The top left stitch is SharonG's Brocade Variation.

http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/nov.php

This is a gorgeous stitch in the silks, metallics and beads SharonG recommends, but how will it look in plain old DMC? What you see in the photo is how I worked it, with each step done top down. The first row is the grid in chocolate. Step two/row two is the plus sign which I did in teal. I really like this color combo, particularly on the white canvas. (It's a scrap of white 18 count mono, by the way.) It's very 1950s in my mind. I deviated from the instructions in row three, doing step 4 instead of 3. I thought the / lines around the perimeter might be easier to do than doing step 3 and then 4. I used pink here and found it covered up the white background of my canvas.

I did step 3 in the fourth row with my medium green. In that step you put an X on top of the plus sign. This filled in the square almost completely and I found the green and teal were similar enough that they merged into a color between the two. I guess my eyes performed color magic here, making a new shade from these two.

There are only four rows of the design stitched above because step five is to put beads n the corners of each little box. I compromised and did a French knot there in my light green cotton floss. Hope you can see it. Even though it is very light, the touch of green adds to the pattern, hiding the white between each box even though it is just in the corners.

I like how the Brocade Variation turned out a lot.

The round stitch on the right is called Round Bargello and it is from Lois Kershner.

http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2008/jan.php

I didn't have enough shades of green to do all four of the crescent shapes without repeating myself but this turned out just fine. I worked the light green, then the medium, back to light, and finished with dark green. It looks better than I thought it would. These green colors didn't seem very attractive to me but in this stitch they really shine.

For the center I used the variation, using my chocolate, pink and teal to do the corners, sides and center. I am amazed at how good this looks. It resembles a flower to me even though few flowers are green with centers in pink/teal/chocolate. I think this stitch would look great in the corners of an ornate border.

The bottom stitch is Jean Hilton's Chilly Hollow stitch, diagrammed by Carole Lake.

http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2002/Mar.php

This stitch has basically three steps, the foundation (I used my chocolate but it doesn't matter what color since step two hides step one) and the side and the center. With six colors to use, I decided to use my greens and teal on the side and pretend this was an overdye with color changes. I like how they work together, moving from dark to light to teal. I filled in the center with pink French knots. Chocolate seemed too dark for a center which you normally want to come forward (and you use light colors to make something look like it is closer to the viewer). So I just used the pink, although I might have had spotted French knots if I added a few in chocolate. I also like how this stitch turned out. The colors work well together, even if I never would have chosen these colors. But isn't it good to break out of your favorite colors box?

It occurred to me as I stitched my samples that part of the appeal of the photo I choose was the whimsical air of the design. I liked the design itself really more than the colors. I like pinks but chocolate brown? I'd never pick that color to use in a geometric pattern! The greens are unlikely choices for me as well. Perhaps the emotional response I had to the actual design are as important as the colors used in it? We all know that some designs just jump into our pockets when we are in a needlepoint shop. We have to have that Santa, that new Jean Hilton pattern, that Melissa Shirley monkey. Are we responding to a design that touches something in our souls? Is that different than choosing colors we think pretty?

I've got a lot to mull over while I work on Fan the little Japanese girl this weekend....

Color Excitement

Remember when I found this blog (below) and got all excited? I thought the images, each with its own colors pulled out and displayed in stripes below the image, would help me pick colors. I am no good at picking colors but I thought if I picked out a photo I liked and then pulled the colors, I might learn something.

http://color-stripes.blogspot.com/

The local crafts emporium is having a sale so yesterday I choose the photo I liked best (March 13th's little smiling sun with trees and birds appealed to me a lot), then headed over and picked up six DMC flosses in those colors. My purchases are in the photo above. There are three somewhat related greens, a chocolate brown, a rose pink and a blue-teal.

Tonight I'm going to pick some stitches from ANG's Stitch of the Month page and see how they look in these colors.

http://www.needlepoint.org/Stitch.php

I'll try using the pink as the focal point, see how the various greens look with chocolate brown and blue, etc. It's an easy way to see how three shades and three accent colors interact. Stay tuned. I'll post my results tomorrow.