January 3: Homespun Elegance's The Stitcher, stitched on 28ct cashel linen, Silkweaver Sundown, in the recommended DMC floss. I was able to stitch for 2 and 1/2 hours before heading into work and so was able to make a fairly respectable start on this piece. At any rate, I got more done on this than on my previous two pieces and am now reluctant to let it go. When I first signed on for this challenge I thought it would be great fun to start so many pieces that have been languishing in my stash, pieces I truly love and have wanted to stitch for quite a while now. Maybe that's the problem: I really love these designs and don't want to put them down after just an hour or two of stitching. I will look at the positive aspect though" I will be all the more eager to pick them up again once the intial pandemonium of 15 days of starts is over.
January 4: Homespun Elegance's Witches Stitch, Too, stitched on 28ct cashel linen, Silkweaver Summer Sundown, in the charted overdyed flosses. There's not much done on this piece since Tuesday is my longest workday of the week at 11 hours. All I managed was about 1 and 1/4 rows of the floor ... which still qualifies as a start, if not a very impressive one. 
January 5: Alessandra Adelaide's Zucca, stitched on 40ct Newcastle linen, Silkweaver Mississippi Mud [a limited edition color] in Thread Gatherer's Sheep's Silk, Pheonix Rising, and a green silk yet to be determined. I am really enjoying using the Sheep's Silk fiber. It gives a bit of a dimensional look to the piece since its loft makes it sit up from the fabric more than cotton or silk. And, I do confess, I stitched on this into January 6 ... if only because I wanted to finish out a length of thread already in my needle. I believe this is the most challenging piece I have started thus far ... counting with absolute accuracy will be essential to maintaining the symmetry of this design.
January 6: Barrick's Sampler's The Gilded Cage, stitched on 32 ct Flax linen, in the recommended Needlepoint Silks. This is the third piece so far with a border ... it doesn't make for a very interesting start photo. I received this chart from a blogging friend who offerred it to me when I expressed my admiration for the piece as she documented her progress on her own blog ... I am most grateful ... and I know I will derive a lot of pleasure from this project.
8 comments:
You are doing great! I love the orange you are using for Zucca! It's a bright cheery color, no wonder you couldn't stop stitching. Is it a wool?
Great starts! That zucca is in my 'to do' list at some point in time. :)
I love all of these but especially the Gilded Cage. I may have to go on a search for that pattern. That is the bad part for those of us not participating in this challenge - lots of enableing. :o)
All very nice. I wish you well in keeping up with this challenge!
Nancy
Oh Riona, you've chosen such beautiful projects!
You are off to a great start on some beautiful projects! Love that Zucca piece :)
They are great new starts!!! I wish you luck on getting back to them to finish them.
I had a friend who had a dog named Zucca. He was born on Halloween. I may have to chase down that pattern.
Post a Comment