Using Alternating Cashmere Pairs Stitch

Yesterday I explained how Alternating Cashmere Pairs are stitched so that you can use this lovely stitch on a project of your own if you are so inclined.  Pamela asked me how I handled compensation and said that the blocks weren't oriented the same way I diagrammed them.  I'd already planned to cover these comments in another posting (I was running out of time to write and the article was getting rather long anyway) and here it is.

Light Coverage Alternating Cashmere Pairs
First, let me review what I'm stitching.  My canvas is 13 count and I used two plies of the darker chocolate brown Splendor silk and two plies of the lighter chocolate with cream Mandarin floss.  This doesn't really cover the background.  I don't care as I prefer light coverage stitches that allow some of the underlying canvas to show but you may want to bulk up your plies of thread for your canvas.  Do a test first.  You'll need anywhere from 4 to 8 plies to cover well but the exact amount of thread depends on the color of your thread and your canvas and your own stitching tension.

Use a Laying Tool
Note that I am using a laying tool as I work.  I consider this is necessity as my flosses reflect light beautifully if they are laid straight with a laying tool.  You can use one or not, but believe me, if you use one with this stitch, it'll look a lot better.  (If you aren't familiar with laying tools, use the search bot at the upper left hand corner and type "laying tools" to see what I've written about them.  There are links to tutorials on their proper use here on Blog and that's the fastest way to find them.)

Keeping Light Coverage Stitches Secure
One of the most common problems you will find when you do light coverage stitches is that the threads on the back will loosen and rise up on the front because you can't tie them off the way you do normally.  The way around this is to tie a knot in your two plies and thread them under previously stitched cashmere blocks, then pull tightly and stitch.  This takes care of starting the stitch but what about tying off on the back side?  You have to do an L locking stitch before you thread the loose ends under a previously stitched cashmere block on the back side.  These L locking stitches are just a tiny vertical stitch over one thread with another tiny stitch done horizontally into a shared hole.  Then thread the loose ends under the back.  The L locking stitch will help keep the loose ends from coming out.

How to Compensate Alternating Cashmere Pairs
You can see in the photo above that my Alternating Cashmere Pairs thread colors change roughly when the paint color of the background changes.  Pamela asked how I decided when to change the thread color.  It isn't easy to know when to stop with light brown and start dark brown during one cashmere block (and vice versa). Mostly I continue with my current color if the color change is just 1-2 stitches.  If half the block is one color and the other half another, I change my thread color to match.  I generally don't want a long stitch to be made up of one dark brown tent stitch and the rest the light brown.  I think that looks messy.  It doesn't look odd to just cover that one dark brown stitch with light brown thread, making the whole line of thread one color.  Your eyes will adjust the colors in your brain.  But otherwise, trust your instincts.  If it looks ok, it is.

Keeping Alternating Cashmere Pairs Oriented Correctly
This is very hard for me.  I'm mildly dyslexic and also am constantly interrupted as I stitch.  I also tend to stitch at night when I am tired, not in the mornings when I am fresh and rested.  I just keep checking that things are right when it comes to having a pair of vertical versus horizontal cashmere blocks,  but I've found if I mix up the direction of the slants within the block pairs it doesn't matter very much.  I try to be perfect with this but in the background with this stitch it doesn't matter.  So if Pamela likes the cashmere blocks to slant another way, she can do hers all like that without a problem.

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

Alternating Cashmere Pairs Stitch

Before I go any further, I need to diagram the background stitch I've chosen since the only place I've found it is in Needlepoint Now and because of copyright, I can't use their diagram.  This stitch was chosen by Wendy Harwood of Artisteia Needlepoint to use stitching a floral purse design by Melissa Shirley.
http://www.aristeianeedlepoint.com/index.html

It may or may not have been invented by her and I don't know the stitch's name since the July/August 2009 issue of Needlepoint Now where this stitch appears doesn't give it a name.  Let's just call it Alternating Cashmere Pairs, ok?  That pretty well describes it, after all.


The first thing you do for this stitch is three stitches in a vertical row, each a thread longer than the last (or a tent stitch followed by a stitch over two threads, then a stitch over three threads).   Looks like a triangle balancing on its tiptoes, doesn't it?  This is the starting point of each of the cashmere blocks that make up this stitch.



Then you repeat the longest row four more times, for a total of 7 stitches, the last 5 of which are identical.  Then you finish with a stitch over two threads and then a final tent stitch to make this cashmere block.

Next you make a second cashmere block, identical to the first.  Note that this block does not touch the first.  There is one empty vertical row of needlepoint canvas threads between them.  These two cashmere blocks are the first pair.

For the third cashmere block, start with the same three little stitches, this time under cashmere block number one.  Note that the stitches for cashmere block three share holes with the bottom of cashmere block one.

Cashmere block three is oriented horizontally.  Do the same stitches but working left to right instead of from top to bottom.

Cashmere block four goes under block three but this time you skip a row of needlepoint canvas threads.  Each pair of cashmere stitches have an empty thread between them.






To continue the stitch, do horizontally oriented pairs next to vertically oriented pairs, and vice versa.



If you like, you can fill the empty spaces between pairs with tent stitches.  I haven't decided if I will do this or not.

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

More about Backgrounds and Scale

I've been trying to come up with ways to further explain scale, particularly as it pertains to O'jishi's background.  It isn't easy to explain something that I don't understand 100% myself but I'll try to lay out what conclusions I've come to about scale and painted canvases to help you understand scale as it pertains to needlepoint designs.

The background of any piece needs to be less important than the foreground.  After all, you don't want people looking at the large piece you labored over for 8 months and saying, "Nice background" without any comment on the central Santa or whatever!  The background is the bridesmaid, not the bride of almost any piece. (Note that there are some designs without real focal points.)

Let's look at an example.  This is a small stand up piece for Thanksgiving from Amy Bunger's website.  Her stitched model photos are excellent and easy to see in detail.
http://www.amybunger.com/albums/album_image/6262614/4381038.htm

See how the background sky is a tiny stitch?  You see it but even though a fancy overdye thread seems to be used, your brain says "sky" and then moves on to the two figures.  Also note how the ground uses a larger stitch and a darker color.  That makes the ground "heavier" than the "sky."  You don't want a sky that overwhelms the ground any more than you want a background that overwhelms the central design.  The scale is good for this piece in that the sky is a smaller scale stitch than the ground's stitch.

Compare the mostly tent stitches of the Indian to the sky and ground.  They are smaller stitches than those used for the sky or ground but the various colors and the areas that are 3-D make the tent stitches more prominent.  You see, having a small scale area doesn't mean the stitches themselves are tiny.  It's the impact of the stitches that needs to be BIG.

Here is a stitch diagram of something called Greek Key for cross stitch.  Note that each dot is a tent stitch if you are doing this for needlepoint.  Each tent stitch is small, but this is a stitch unit, not one stitch here or there.
http://crossstitch.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=crossstitch&cdn=hobbies&tm=8&f=21&tt=14&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.nancyhearne.com/drawingboard/greekkey.htm

(If this long link doesn't work for you, try the Tiny URL version.)
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yhcbe3q

In other words, small stitches don't automatically equal tiny scale.  Small stitches can increase their scale by being colorful or part of an larger design unit.

I wanted to clarify this so that you would understand that scale is important for most painted canvass, that scale doesn't necessarily mean big stitches work with big designs (or small stitches work with small designs), and that you have to suit the scale to the design.

I hope I haven't totally confused you!  I'll talk about scale more as we work this piece and try to come up with clearer explanations as to why I choose the stitches I do.

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

New Project of the Month and New Classes

If you love having a project arrive in the mail so you don't have to run around picking up threads one place and a design another, then Lani's got a deal for you.  She is starting a project of the month program via her website.  The first project is a personalized jewelry box.  You choose the lettering and the background color and you can also choose the leather color of the box.  Lani includes a stitch guide and fabulous threads.  I think this would make a fabulous Christmas present.  Put a promise to have it stitched by the recipient's birthday in 2010 inside with all the threads, or perhaps include a promise to teach the recipient how to stitch it....
http://www.lanisneedlepoint.com/leejewelryboxkit.aspx

Lani will do a different project each month, so bookmark her site and see what she comes up with next month.

The other news is for those interested in historical embroidery--Tricia Wilson Nguyen is starting cyberclasses called Online University to teach historic embroidery techniques, particularly from the Tudor and Stuart Periods (which means English embroidery mostly).  The classes are here.  Click on the class name for particulars, including a video that introduces the class material.
http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/teaching/projects/onlineclasses/index.html

I am always grateful for the new ways of learning our designer and teacher and shop friends come up with!

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

Too Hot? Too Cold? Just Right!

I like to start with the background of each piece of needlepoint I stitch.  Other folks always start with the center of a design, or start at the upper right corner (or lower left corner), etc.  I don't think there is a right or wrong place to start unless you have areas you really have to stitch first.  (An example of that would be areas of white and black when you would want to do the dark area before the white so that you wouldn't get fuzz from one onto the other or have dragged threads on the back showing.)  There are other logical reasons that will mean you have to start elsewhere, but normally I start with the background of a piece.  It just works for me to do so.

So the first thing I need to figure out on my O'jishi lion mask is the background stitch or stitches.  Which stitch you use is partly governed by the threads you use, so I picked four threads to try out.  I choose dark and light milk chocolate colors that match the background symbol's shade:  Mandarin Floss (milk chocolate mixed with cream #M879), Splendor silk (dark milk chocolate #S928), Gloriana overdyed silk Milk Chocolate #170 and Gloriana overdyed silk Coffee Bean #166.

You can see how these threads look in this photo of one of my first test stitchings.  The stitch above is Bamboo Stitch, step one.  (Step two adds horizontal bars at the top of each pair of long and short stitches.  This stitch is from More Stitches for Effect, page 31)  On the right side you see Mandarin Floss (light milk chocolate) and Splendor (dark milk chocolate).  On the left in the V shape of the symbol you see the two Gloriana overdyes.  The lighter section of the symbol is Milk Chocolate and the darker areas are Coffee Bean.

I decided that the overdyes did not add much to the symbol although I think very often if you use a slightly lighter or darker shade of the background color you can add depth and interest to a design.  I decided to go with the Mandarin Floss and Splendor Silk when it came to color.  I used two plies of each.  This is a 13 count canvas but even two plies laid carefully cover pretty well and I did want some of the background color to show through the threads.  A light coverage stitch will not overwhelm the mask, which is important.

Now that I've chosen threads, what about a stitch?   I did not like how Bamboo Stitch looked and ripped it out.  When it comes to choosing a stitch, I normally use the shape I have to fill as a starting point.  In other words, if you are stitching a round circle, look for a stitch that is round.  (It's a useful guideline but not a fast rule so don't tattoo this on your forehead, ok?)  In this instance I am not going to find a stitch that is shaped like the background symbol.  So I decided I would look at stitches that echo Asian themes like bamboo or willow or Chinese lanterns.  Which is why I started with Bamboo Stitch.

But Bamboo Stitch violates an important rule of design--the scale is wrong.  This is a big piece with large sections and the Bamboo Stitch just looks too small and fussy for O'jishi.  I could try to elongate the stitch and also widen it but I decided to try something else.  Here are the next two background stitches I auditioned.

The stitch at the bottom is called Diagonal Hungarian (More Stitches for Effect, page 33).  I thought initially that This Was It.  The scale is ok and it makes the background look woven, which is appropriate for a mask hanging on a wall covered in reed mats.  But in the end this stitch didn't grab me and I kept trying.

The stitch in the upper right is my third attempt.  This is a stitch I made up based on Goofy Stitch from the Little Shoppe of Stitches' website.  They have a Stitch of the Month section there.  Note that Goofy Stitch is supposed to be done in two colors, which isn't really appropriate here as I want to switch colors only when stitching the symbol instead of the background.  So I took the idea of a diagonal row of stitches over 6 threads alternating with 6 rows of diagonal stitches over 2 threads and created Goofy Six By Six stitch.  The plan was to alternate the direction of the main large row to echo the slants of the symbol in the background, and then fill in with 6 rows of the smaller size between the various large rows.
http://store.littleshoppeofstitches.com/gojustofmo.html

I like this stitch and it would be great on the perfect canvas, but in the end I decided that it was too dramatic and took attention away from the central design without properly emphasizing the symbol.  So I tried again.

My fourth attempt is on the left side of this photo.  It is an unnamed cashmere stitch variation used as the background stitch for Melissa Shirley's red flower purse.  It's charted in the July-August 2009 NP Now magazine but here's a photo of the finished purse.
http://www.needlepointnow.com/back_issues/2009/2009_07/2009_07_back_cover.html

See?  You do a pair of cashmere rectangles separated by an empty thread row, then do another pair oriented differently. After the pairs are stitched, you come back and tent stitch all the empty rows.  The purse uses two threads, one for the cashmere rectangle pairs and one for tent stitches separating each pair.  Right now I am undecided whether I will stitch those tent stitches or not.  I'll look at my stash of threads today and see if anything seems to have a different enough texture to be useful here.  I may just leave the tent stitch row empty.

I like how the cashmere pairs look on this canvas.  They echo the symbol shape and are vaguely Asian in feel without drawing too much attention away from the mask.  They are not easy to compensate when you have to switch colors and I do have to lay my two plies for each stitch but the right background makes or breaks a piece, so all the effort is worth it to me.

I have a lot of background to do so I'll probably talk about other things this week as I stitch it.

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