Last weekend I finished the Millefiori Cross. I’m framing it and hanging it in my collection of crosses.
My next car project is this Melissa Shirley candy cane that was in my UFO pile. I got it partially kitted, the red will be Trebizond, one of the kit threads.it’s a thread I don’t use often, so I’m excited to work with it. I’m mostly done with the background and have started the green. Since it’s easy stitches with a white-on-white background, it will be great for the car.
I didn’t make much progress on the birds, but now I’m up to the second branch on the right. Thinking about stitching it brings up a point that didn’t occur to me for decades: the direction of your rows of stitching matters.
We all know it matters when stitching with overdyes in order to avoid diagonal lines. We know it matters when stitching Basketweave in order to avoid ridges. We know it’s important for open techniques to keep holes and traveling threads from appearing. In most other cases the difference is slight but the pull of your stitches varies with the direction of your stitching.
You may not consciously notice it, but planned changes in your rows add texture to your needlepoint. In the Birds in a Tree piece I’m stitching the rows across the narrow part of the trunk and branches. This means the branches are vertical rows, while the trunk is horizontal rows.
As you can see from last week’s picture at the second branch I face a problem because the branch emerges gradually. I needed to make a decision where the branch started. I decided to keep the sides of the trunk straight and start the branch at the beginning of the curve.
This week I’ll do more of the trunk and start the second branch.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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