Yesterday Nancy left a note in the comments section asking for help. Here it is in case you missed it--
"I am a neophyte to needlepoint; thus, I have no
'stash.' Could you give me a couple of
internet sites where I can buy quality materials.
Right now, I need blank needlepoint canvas and
threads. I am overwhelmed by the myriad of
threads. Beginner threads?"
I answered Nancy in the comments but I'm going to repeat what I told her here. This is for folks new to NP, ok? You need a shop that's somewhat local to help you. There aren't any cheap places to buy blank NP canvas. It costs pretty much the same everywhere. The cheapest route to go to learn is to pick up plastic canvas (it comes in 10 and 14 count) at the crafts emporiums like Ben Franklin's, Michael's, etc. and get DMC cotton floss in whatever colors you like at the same time. It won't cost more than a few dollars to experiment, especially if you use the free designs on the thread company websites (Kreinik, Rainbow Gallery or Caron).
I suspect Nancy is a bit beyond this and wants to know a) where to shop and b) what to buy. I asked her to tell me her state and if there's a big town fairly near her. Developing a relationship with a good needlepoint shop is key. They often have scraps of NP canvas and threads they'll give you and will provide free tips. Folks who run these stores aren't in it for the big bucks--they own a shop because they love stitching and they are a great resource you want to cultivate. Often they have classes or just times when they encourage stitchers to show up for a group stitch-in. Beginners are very welcome to join in and learn from more experienced stitchers. Besides, mail order from across the state is quicker and cheaper than mail order across the continent!
If you want to post your state in the Comments, I'll find and post links to shops who have good reputations in your area. If you don't want to do this, head over to TNNA's website and look for shops in your state which belong to TNNA.
TNNA stands for The National Needlearts Association. It is a trade group for shops that carry knitting, NP, cross stitch and other like products. Any store that belongs is serious about keeping up with new items, attending the trade shows they put on several times a year to pick up new stuff for their store, etc. It isn't a total guarantee of happiness with member shops but it's as good as it gets. Go to their site, then click on the "Find a Shop Near You" link at the bottom.
http://www.tnna.org/You can search by state and by the product the shop specializes in to find shops in your area. You can also discover which ones have a website to do some browsing, look at their contact info, etc.
Any shop newsletter I post here is from a shop I have ordered from or who I've heard about through friends who love shopping there. You can pick one whose website you enjoy that has products to your taste and mail order anything you need. It's better to have a shop in your area that you can visit at least occasionally (and remember, just because a shop doesn't have a website it doesn't mean they aren't fabulous!--and vice versa) but if that's not possible, you can trust any shop whose newsletter I post for good service. I don't post newsletters from places I know nothing about but I do put up links to photos of goods I'm talking about from places that are not known to me. I try to promote new shops here. Any shop with an e-newsletter is guaranteed to be very serious about NP. You can buy there with confidence.
Ok, now you have a shop or two in mind, what do you buy? You'll need some blank NP canvas to play around with. The most common sizes are 13 count and 18 count. Pick one according to the current state of your eyes and see what colors are available if you don't want a plain white background. The canvas with the orange line woven in the bound edge is from Zweigart and is the best quality currently available. Remember that NP canvas comes in interlock (great for ornaments or glasses cases as it doesn't unravel; terrible for chair seats as it doesn't have any "give") and mono and penelope. Mono is one thread, penelope is two threads. Doesn't matter what you pick for a project unless you want to stitch over two threads for the background and over one for faces or flower centers--you'll want penelope if you need that possibility. The bulk of the charts available are written assuming you are using 18 count mono canvas, however.
Back to size. If you choose 13 count canvas, you need threads that are a bit fatter than what 18 count canvas needs. Your best bet is to buy cotton floss and/or crewel wool and/or Persian wool. You can use 1-2 strands of crewel for 18 count and 3-4 for 13 count; 18 count needs 3-6 plies of cotton floss while 13 count needs 6-8 plies; 13 count needs all three plies of Persian wool while you can use 1-2 plies on 18 count. All these threads are available most places and they'll work on both sizes of NP canvas.
Feeling like you want to go fancier than cotton or wool? Look for Rainbow Gallery's Splendor silk floss. It is also widely available and comes in a huge range of colors and is easy to use. It's 12 ply, and you need to separate it into 3 bundles of 4 plies each before stripping the bundles down further. It won't knot if you do this. It's a great thread, not as shiny as other silks, but as easy to use as cotton floss.
Also look for Kreinik metallic threads. They are also widely available. #4 and #8 braid are best for 18 count canvas; #12 is a new thread size made especially for 13 count, but #8 will work, depending on the stitch you are doing.
There are dozens of other brands of threads. Silk-wool blends are adored by stitchers everywhere. If you want to go that route, either Impressions or Trio is perfect for 18 count and the 13 count canvases are covered well by Vineyard Silks, Silk & Ivory or Silk n Cream. Vineyard Silks also works fine on 18 count, although I think some stitches don't do as well as others in this thread.
However, if you have a pattern in mind you are going to stitch, tell the shop what the chart asks for and if you want to try something different. They can substitute threads and colors according to your budget and color preferences if they know what threads the designer recommended and what pattern you are doing.
I hope this helps you dip your toe into the NP waters, Nancy. And remember, my motto is to jump in head first!
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
