Green Ribbons, Pink Ribbons

The Rabbit Geisha's green ribbons are finished and the pink ribbons are underway.  I ended up not padding any more of the green ribbons than what you saw in the photo day before yesterday as it seemed that highly padded ribbons only belong in front of the kimono when they have a lot to compete with for our attention.  The pink ribbons are not padded at all.

I also decided to do something a little different with the pink ribbons than with the green--I used only one pink overdyed thread instead of three different shades of green in three threads.

I happened to have a skein of Needle Necessities' overdyed cotton floss "Cotton Candy" #157 which has all three shades of rose pink that were painted on the canvas I am working.  I cut 18 inch lengths, removed four plies (this is a six ply thread), and knotted the end most similar in shade to my starting point on the canvas.  Then I stitched letting the color changes happen regardless of what was painted.  Every time I needed a new length of thread, I started with the "right" color, i.e., the color that was painted, but after that the colors fell as the thread was dyed.

I was much more careful to match the correct shade of green on the green ribbons but it is hard to copy what is painted when you are using long stitches.  Tent stitches allow you to match the paint almost exactly but long stitches don't.

This doesn't really matter, though.  If you look at the photo above and compare it to the original unpainted canvas, it is hard to tell that I didn't match the original exactly.

I have a nice little cache of NN threads but if you don't, you can substitute ThreadworX overdyed floss for this discontinued thread. Needle in a Haystack has reference photos of all the NN overdyed floss colors here.
http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/NN_Floss.html

You can see that ThreadworX's "Sweet Innocence" #1099 is a very close match by looking at the photos Needle in a Haystack has posted here.
http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/TW_Floss.html

I have to stitch the gold edging of one last pink ribbon area before I can stitch the ribbon itself.  After that, I will finish the navy tassels and finally get to the part I've been looking forward to since I started this design--the feathery fan the Rabbit Geisha carries.

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

Missed You Yesterday

Yesterday I didn't have time to post the message I had planned. Some days are like that. But you didn't miss much. I had just intended to mention that I've run out of the #12 braid (Kreinik's gold 002) I was using to tent stitch the gold edge on the pink ribbon that the Rabbit Geisha wears.  I can't buy anything except #16 braid locally so I rummaged in my stash and found a nice full spool of #4 braid in the same color.  I will triple the amount and have the same thickness for my tent stitches.

However, I have discovered this isn't as straightforward as you would think.  When I tripled the #4 braid in my needle, the three strands twisted and knotted themselves and the tent stitch looked messy.  So I am stitching with a single strand of #4 braid and stitching three tent stitches per hole.  It takes a while and is annoying but it works and saves me from having to put this piece aside until I can obtain more #12 braid.  After all, I am rushing to get this done ASAP so that I can start on the project I plan to stitch for my mother for Christmas.

By the way, the photos are scenes from Chilly Hollow this week.  We had lovely weather all week (although today is blustery and raining like March weather) and I took some photos of the leaf color facing the Blue Ridge Mountains and of the two yearlings that are eating grass right outside the front door.

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

Ribbons, Padded and Not

I've started on the green ribbons tied around the Rabbit Geisha's waist.  In the photo above, you see the unstitched ribbons which are in three shades of spring green.

The next picture shows how I have started to pad the ribbons around her waist and down the front of her kimono and how I am not padding the green ribbons on the right side that flow out behind the Rabbit Geisha.

I decided that I wanted dimension in the first set of ribbons but none in the ribbons that are flowing toward the background.  I'm using four plies of Mandarin floss (#M817) for the darkest green and the lightest part of the overdyed Needle Necessities overdyed cotton floss (#199) for the lightest green.

I'm using gray Very Velvet (#V215) for the padding.  This color is one I bought for a specific project that needed just a little touch of velvety gray.  I have a lot of it left and have found (courtesy of someone who mentioned it was a great padding material on their blog, was that you, Pat?).  I would caution you not to use gray or other dark colors to pad under white or light colors such as pale yellow, but for my greens, it will work nicely.

Note how I have slanted the Very Velvet to lie opposite the direction of my green stitches.  Also note how I am trying to change the slants to indicate the different ways the ribbon lies.

If you can't see the gray Very Velvet well on the green, I put a length on top of one of the pink ribbons also so you could see it better.  Remember to keep the Very Velvet untwisted as you lay down your foundation.  It can turn on you if you aren't paying attention.

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

Bead Sizes for Needlepoint

Fireside Stitchery used to have a list of the recommended sizes of beads for various sizes of NP canvas.  Now that they have revamped their website, I can't find it any more.   I decided it might be useful to have such a list here so you can look it up to help you pick the correct size.  Please remember that the "right" size depends to a certain extent on your tastes and the effect you want, however.

Beads are sized in millimeters or in numbers that look like this--11/0 or 14/0.  As with needles, the larger the /0 number, the smaller the bead.

18 count canvas:  14/0 or 1.25mm
13-14 count canvas:  11/0 or 1.33mm
12 count canvas:  10/0 or 1.35mm
10 count canvas: 8/0 or 6/0;  3-3.5mm
7 count plastic canvas: 5/0 or 4mm

Many beads don't have sizes on them. Some are called "seed beads."  These are generally smaller than 14/0.
UPDATE:  Judy Harper says that seed beads come in many sizes, some quite large.  All of the seed beads I've seen are tiny but she says they can be of any size, so be careful when doing mail order.  Don't assume that seed beads are necessarily tiny.

Mill Hill beads are usually not sized on the package so I looked them up on the Mill Hill website.  Magnifica beads are sized 12/0.  They work beautifully on 18 count canvas.

Mill Hill's Frosted Beads are size 11/0, making them a good match for either 13 or 18 count canvas.  Mill Hill's Seed Beads and Antique Seed Beads are size 11/0 also.

Mill Hills Petite Seed Beads are size 15/0, making them the smallest beads in their line.

If the beads you have are smaler than the recommended size, it may not matter.  It all depends on your effect.  You can also cluster beads, attaching thee little beads in a group with a fourth bead attached on top to make up the size you want.

Many thanks to Fireside Stitchery for providing the basis of this information!

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

Beads Equal French Knots (And Vice Versa)

This morning's math lesson is how French Knots=Beads. Or vice versa.  The geisha in the original painting has nine little buttons (or possibly beaded decoration) along the edge of her kimono above her obi and at the hem of her over tunic.  In the original canvas these are red but I already knew I wanted to change the color to something else.  My Western sensibilities wanted repeats of the main colors.  So I pulled out my blue and gold beads and put a few of each shade on the canvas.  The best match (the same blue beads I used for the sleeves) were turned into a much lighter blue by the tan and gold background of the kimono.  Gold beads just disappeared as there is too much gold on the kimono already and the beads visually became more of the gold pattern.  They did not stand out.

You want Stand Out?  I'll give you STAND OUT!

Sorry, got carried away a bit there.  I have quite a few pink and green beads and those are the accent colors on this canvas, so I tried to match the pink and green ribbon colors and came up with size 11/0 pink beads by Gick in rose pink #4-136.   I don't know if you can see them well in the picture but in person they give a small shot of color to the decorative trim on the kimono over coat.  My green beads were not such a good color match to the ribbons but I'm happy with the accent the beads give.

I was a bit afraid that I would not have the right beads in my stash, so I also pulled out metallic threads in the right shades of pink and green.  If you need to do something that looks like buttons on a canvas, French knots and beads will give the same effect.  If you can't get the shade of metallic you want for French knots, substitute beads in the right color.  And vice versa.

I love metallic "buttons" on NP canvases.  You can obtain many sizes and colors in metallic threads to give you just the right sized button in a French knot.

If you hate making French knots, substitute beads.  If you have access to a good bead shop, or even a crafts emporium that sells a lot of items for making jewelry, you can pick up a nice selection of beads.  Many NP shops also carry beads.  I particularly like the hexagon-shaped beads from Sundance and the Magnifica line of beads from Mill Hill but you can substitute beads, or a mix of beads and French knots, on any canvas where you need a button.

By the way, ordinarily I would put the beads on after the squiggles that make up the trim, but I wanted the beads in place so I can properly position the squiggles that help make up the trim.  Therefore,  I added the beads now.

Sorry this is late showing up this morning, but the Internet connection was down briefly.  We have a fabulous wireless provider that gives us a solid and reasonably fast connection, but even they have problems occasionally.  At least it wasn't an owl sitting on the dish that caused a problem this time!

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