Excuse me for a moment for a rant. It’s only directed at myself. A few months ago I bought this Patty Paints round that was designed for self-finishing. Both stitching area and cutting lines are marked on the canvas. It includes the button round as well as instructions for finishing. I have a bunch of these button forms so I am excited about the possibilities.
I picked this malachite canvas because I love these colors and figured it would be fun to stitch. I’ve cut the stitching out three times and will be starting the fourth stitching try tonight.
I have blocked the first attempt out of my mind. I think the thread I picked was too thick. The second attempt was Tent. This. time the threads were OK but it was going very slowly. I frogged it again.
The third try was t Stitch. I stitched two of the lightest green stripes but I thought the second stripe had gotten off. So I cut that out and decided to stitch adjacent stripes. I started a black stripe. It turns out that the remaining light green stripe was off. But I didn’t know this so I pulled out some of the black, hoping to fix things. No go.
Tuesday night I cut it all out again. I’m glad I find frogging strangely calming.
This time, I am going to stitch it in Skip Tent, below. I will be stitching only on the steps and will stitch adjacent stripes. I’m hoping that I have controlled enough of the problems that I won’t mess up.
It just goes to show that to create beautiful needlepoint, you should not be afraid to stop & cut out when things are not working.
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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