Rice Pudding

Not the dessert, though I will admit to loving a creamy home-made rice pudding.  I consider it one of the ultimate comfort foods,

No, this Rice Pudding is the counted canvas design by DebBee's Designs and I am loving it.  I am delighted by all the variations of the rice stitch Debbie has included in the project.  It is not a piece that travels well so I have made it my at home stitching.  My only problem is that the high pollen counts have really irritated my eyes, which are aching and watering profusely, making stitching somewhat problematic.  Still, progress is being made.

I have been working on it, on and off, all weekend.  Here's are some before and after shots.

Clearly this is the before shot, taken July 9 and showing only two variations of the rice stitch: the standard single arm cross and the somewhat more complex double arm cross.

Since then, I have added a slimmer rice stitch, 2 threads wide but 4 threads tall with a single arm cross.  And I have begun work on another double arm cross rice that will have a vertical cross at the center in a contrasting color.  This last is rather time-consuming since it is somewhat difficult to find the canvas threads where I need to place the vertical cross as the background rice stitch covers the canvas so well.  You can also see the mirror image effect coming into play as I have started working the right side of the design.

I am also including a close-up shot of the various different versions of the rice stitch so you can see just why I am so pleased with the piece.  It's amazing how much variety can be drawn out of one very basic stitch.