Triangular Feather Stitch

 Triangular Feather Stitch

Stitch 52: Triangular Feather Stitch Sorry, the pic is a bit fuzzy. I used this weeks stitch to hold down the front of my shirt that gapes. Of course it's the fine material, nothing to do with the person inside it. lol. pleased with the effect.

Triangular Feather Stitch

I alternated the triangles - twos with ones to break up the line a bit. Funny thing, I haven't given this piece a name. Usually I get attached to what I'm working on and give it a name - maybe I had a utilitarian view of this one. I am wearing it as I write. I can remember as a child having names for all my frocks :-)

Raised Herringbone Band

'Red Herring Unwrapped'
Raised herringbone band.

Stitch 51: Raised Herringbone band. There, someone had to do the red herring! Been waiting ages for this stitch to come up to do one for my sea picture :-) Doesn't look much like a herring really but he's a cute little chap with a funny face and I 'm surprised by how much I like the herringbone on the satin stitch raised effect.  Not did the wrapping - it just didn't go.  Unwrapped - English joke - those who take their fish and chips in an open packet say they'll have them unwrapped. Groan :-)

Lace Experiment

'Cauliflower'. § Learning curve - don't bite off more than you can chew.

Knotted feather stitch

'Seaweed'

Knotted feather stitch seaweed. Design : the curve on the seaweed is making the rock look rounded (well in my eyes anyway). This is proving to be a much overloaded pic but it's doing what I wanted - making a place to play and enjoy different textures and use up some pretty things.The rest of the rock is not staying like that. To come - the sandy bottom !
Stitch 49: Knotted Feather Stitch

Basque Stitch looped with Chain stitch and Multiple Stitches

It wasn't right. Needed less weight in the leaves. I couldn't leave it be. :-) Learning curve : lot of light reflected in the thread. Need to chose the stitches to give priority to the bit of the pic that needs to be the most important, not just what stitch I fancied using. Balance. Border a bit wiggly but I was doing it for medicinal purposes and it worked. I am not allowed to unpick anything else on this pic. I'm playing and learning. The photo doesn't do justice to the shading on the leaves which I am just a little rather pleased with. Design learning curve. So many stitches the tag says it's too full :-) Nice that the stiches I've learned this last year have memories with them of what was happening and enjoying making the pics. But Must NOT make myself poorly having fun. Stitching a bit like eating chocolate :-) Used Basque Stitch for first time. Much prettier than I expected. Makes these droplet like loops. Will definitely use it again. Wasn't heavy enough to do justice to the pic so did chain stitch edge with loops round the base of the basque stitch line. It softened the straight line too making it more lacy. TAST 27: Basque stitch.

I'm stitching again :-) Only 6 weeks not being able to. Really chuffed. Done a doodle to use some stitches I've learned this year and others.

Chain Stitch, Detached Chain Stitch, Split Stitch, Straight Stitch, Stem Stitch, French Knot, Knotted Loop Stitch, Trellis Stitch, Fly Stitch, Sheaf Stitch, Buttonhole Wheel, Butterfly Chain, Pistil Stitch, Leaf Stitch, Buttonhole Stitch, Satin Stitch,

Learning Curve, a) leaves - however close together they are the stitches with a knot in will always leave a little hole so don't make a satin type cover.
                      b) design - Using solid stitches for some things and not for others means the solid ones reflect the light more and attract more attention so the leaves detract attention from the flower. I like all the elements, but I'll put them together differently another time.
                     c) it's so obvious now I say it but different textured stitches give different light and shadow.  Useful to take into account when planning the pic. Well, I thought I had, but there are nuances - the flat stitches on the petals give different light than the lumpy ones so I had to change the left hand petal from half chevron which is flat, even though the lines looked good, to the butterfly chain which stands up a bit more. The half chevron didn't seem flat till I outlined it.  Used the flatter stitches for the under petals to contrast with the lumpier main ones.

°Tone on tone, - I rather like.

Whipped Wheel, Buttonhole Stitch

'Card for Auntie F'

'Card for Auntie F'.
 TAST 11,Whipped Wheel ,  TAST 2, Buttonhole Stitch
Experimented with adding beads. Learning Curve :  Not sure about doing them random here. Also difficult to keep tight in. Can't use thick thread and small beads. Like them on the last row though.

Cross Stitch

Pic of Provence made for Mum. 2002. Cross Stitch. Was getting ill at the time and had lost a lot of my visual memory so every little bit was done by memorising and reciting the number of stitches and gaps to do. The slowest thing I've ever made. Enjoyed doing it though. Sat in the car alternately stitching and dozing whilst waiting for Joanna having her dreamed of horse riding lessons (thank you Nanny and Granddad Figures). There was often a robin singing in the trees nearby. So beautiful.

Beaded Double Wheatear Stitch, Butterfly Chain Stitch, Double Herringbone Stitch

'Card for Auntie J' : TAST 5, Double Herringbone Stitch, Beaded Double Wheatear Stitch, Butterfly Chain Stitch,

Knotted Buttonhole Stitch

'Majesty'

Stitch 36: Knotted buttonhole , 'Majesty'. Double, beaded and looped. Circles, neatness. Got the idea for the colours from a picture on Pinterest, maybe a Persian tile. The rest is geometry. Rather pleased with this if I do say so myself ! :-)

Open Base Needlewoven Picot

' Starburst'

' Starburst'. TAST 42: Open Base Needlewoven Picot.

I drew a few circles and went round them doing the picots. For the beads, when I did the set up for the picot with the pin i threaded the bead onto the third thread when it comes round the top of the pin then did the rest as usual. This leaves a little loop at the end so I fished about with the wrong end of the needle at the bottom of the picot to find the middle thread then just pulled it a bit to take out the loop from the top. Then underneath the work I pulled through the bit of slack. This made the picot stick up a bit more too. The middle is just filled in with french knots of course. I was really chuffed that such a simple pattern came out so effectively :-)

Closed Base Needlewoven Picot, Scalloped Detached Buttonhole Stitch

'Botanical'

Yes, OK, I will admit I'm really very chuffed with this. I added a leaf made with Scalloped Detached Buttonhole Stitch and another with the TAST  41: Closed Base Needlewoven Picot. I've called it 'Botanical'. So chuffed with it that I gave it to my Mum for Christmas :-)

'Botanical'

Having a Go !

 I've found with doing the TAST this year it's been a breakthrough for me to say to myself - this is not the proper one, this one is for practice. It released me from the feeling that everything I make has to be perfect enough to give away or display cos the ingredients are so expensive, and that it needs to be perfect first time. I've done far more unpicking than I've ever done before, but I think the quality of my stitching has actually improved cos I'm more laid back about it. I've also got more confident by copying not the details of people's work but the style. I suppose it's dealing with my English reserve. I've really enjoyed seeing the work of Luiz on Stitchin Fingers and have tried in my head to say : think like a Brazilian - and be bolder and brighter,  think like an architect - and use a ruler! Mind you, my taste and preferences are still very English :-)

One of the things that has got me back into sewing is a little dream I've had since I've been sick. It's based on a memory of working in the Nursery. The littlies would be draped with a man's shirt put on backwards as an apron then would stand in front of an easel and paint. Just slop it on for the simple pleasure of seeing the colours and the shapes. No pressure to perform, to paint a something. Just learning to become familiar with the tools and enjoy the act of making. I think it has been part of my inner healing to want to express myself. And I want pretty things, niceness, colours, form. My old ways of expressing myself have become severely limited by my body's limitations. But I'm still me on the inside. Even more so if that makes any sense ! Like a child learns to talk by babbling, talking scribble, playing with sounds I can learn to express myself by playing with different ways of expression. What fun :-))

Buttonhole Wheel Cup

* Buttonhole Wheel Cup, TAST 40.  Small - straight up with a button in. Large going outward, with spiders web filling to cover up the gap, then going inwards in the middle. Rather pleased with the frilly effect. Detached Buttonhole Covered bead. Love the effect of the special thread - pig to work cos it twists and knots.

Italian Border Stitch

Stitch 39: Italian Border stitch

Stitch 39: Italian Border stitch, 'Ode to Autumn', ° Negative Space. Enjoyed working with browns, and pleased with the gold leaf. * Couching,

Hedebo Style Embroidery, Knotted Loop Stitch

'Peach Delight'

° Hedebo Style Embroidery,Stitch 38: Knotted loop stitch  , 'Peach Delight'. 

Enjoyed using these threads, I bought them on holiday in Spain some years ago. Rather pleased at getting the knotted Loop Stitch border to do that wavy line, even if it does look like a NYPD badge :-) 

Hedebo - what an interesting discovery. I looked it up after last weeks stitch of the week and tried it out. It comes from a village in Denmark. Should be white on white of course but that was beyond me at the moment. Put the heart in the middle cos I plan to give it to my sister for Christmas. Not as perfect as cutwork and hardanger, and not perfect work but quite pleased with it nonetheless. Made up the heart and the design from the Hedebo idea. I like Hebedo Back Stitch because it has a little lump in the top and makes more texture and line than Detached Buttonhole Stitch. The hoops are my finger.