Originally posted 2010-04-01 07:59:39. Republished by Blog Post PromoterOne of the things that excites me most about needlepoint is all the creative new ways designers are finding to use needlepoint. Looking at the new products in this column you will see some new 3-D products in both painted canvas and charted needlepoint, new canvases, kits and charts, as well as other exciting new products. Needlepoint in Three Dimensions I was blown away by two products I just learned about. The Needle’s Notion has a 3-D cake done as charted needlepoint. “Carrot Cake” is built around a papier mache box and is white with textured stitches, geometric motifs, carrots, and rabbits. Put it on a lovely cake stand to make a wonderful centerpiece. CBK Needlepoint Collections has marvelous 3-D lighthouses designed by Sukey Designs. They come in two sizes. The large is 12″ and the small is 6″. All four pieces
Monthly Archive:: March 2012
Dragonfly Lotus makes a wonderful line of hand-spun and hand-dyed threads (red my review of some of them). Recently they have come out with a charming line of semi-solid colors in frosted shades. These 17 colors combine lovely shades with a bit of white for that “frosted” look. The thread is a blend of merino wool and bamboo rayon. The white is more obvious in the darker shades than in the lighter, but they make for some wonderful harmonies. I picked four colors from the group for this mini Bargello: Frosted Ash Beige,Frosted Carrot, Frosted Dandelion, and Frosted Burnt Orange. I arranged then from dark to light and just repeated the color sequence. The pattern is adapted from one in Bargello Sampler. I’m putting it in a mahogany Mini Box from Sudberry. I think the rich wood tones will set it off nicely. This pattern is named after one of
Originally posted 2009-11-21 10:53:31. Republished by Blog Post PromoterGolden Gate Canvas Workers ANG, self-published, $25 Twenty years ago, a suburban San Francisco chapter of ANG decided to turn the results of their study of background stitches into a book. The book was revised in 2000, changing the charts to clearer, computer-generated charts. The book is a marvel and an outstanding reference for needlepointers. Its’ divided into chapters first according to stitch families, then with a chapter on exposed canvas stitches and then one on specialty stitches. The stitch diagrams have some nice features not seen in other needlepoint books. When used, instead of showing numbers for both sides of the stitch only one number, where the needle comes out of the canvas, is used. On other diagrams, arrows are used to show where the needle goes back into the canvas. Some diagrams don’t have either because the stitches are self-explanatory.
With the Dallas Needlework Market happening, there are plenty of great new needlepoint products. They should be appearing in your shops soon. Canvas & Charted Canvas Leigh Designs’ new series is Espana. These eight designs feature bits of Spanish Lace for a cool “see through” effect. Ruth Schmuff has these neat wide needlepoint bows on 13 mesh canvas in cool scarf-like prints. Stitch one and then attach it to a tote of your choice. Susan Roberts has an intriguing new brick cover called Koi Pond. On top you see the pond with water lilies and fish. Around the sides you see the lovely plants growing around the pond. Cooper Oaks has a lovely new barn in autumn colors from Walter Kimble. Denise DeRusha has a series of cheerful skeletons in her Dia de los Muertos series of four 5″ square canvases. MAP Designs has two new colorful artistic cats “Chatese”
The colors might not be traditional, but you’ll love the patterns in my fantastic new Bargello Club, Mittens & Mini-socks. Each month, on the 7th, you’ll receive a PDF of a new Bargello pattern, this is April’s, along with a stitch suitable for stitching a cuff. That’s 12 Bargello patterns and 12 new stitches. Every pattern in the club is suitable for making either a mini-sock ornament or an ornament-sized mitten (you’ll get the templates for both). I’m planning a series of six of each. The mini-socks will be in flower colors (this one is faded violets), while the mittens will be in sky colors. Each month’s project pack will be sent via email and will include charts, diagrams, templates and instructions. You’ll love how they are so flexible. They can reflect all kinds of themes but are not specific to any holiday. My collection of mini-socks, I have dozens,
Originally posted 2008-11-21 07:23:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter You probably haven’t heard of change ringing unless you read Dorothy Sayers, live in England, or go near a church which has a peal of bells and rings it this way. If you do then you may have heard the bells ringing in what sounds like a patterned sequence — that’s change ringing. If you read Dorothy Sayers, one of the Peter Whimsy novels, The Nine Tailors has change ringing as its central theme. In college, I had a friend who was a change ringer in Washington, DC at the National Cathedral, which has a wonderful peal of bells. It’s great to hear them. In change ringing the bells, four to twelve, are rung in a particular sequence. Each time the bells are rung they are rung in a different sequence. This site http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~kvdoel/bells/bells.html has a little applet which allows you
I thought I’d give you a quick look at the Bargello Sampler with a bit of the three blocks stitched in. I have used my theme Watercolours in both the horizontal blocks but not in the vertical block. This shows two ways to use a multi-colored thread to create a color scheme. One way is to use the main colors in the thread and pick one or more of them (along with their shades) to create a scheme. The other is to find those same colors and use only them for the scheme. Here it’s easy because pink & green are so easy to put together. While I’ve done lots of Bargello most Hungarianpoint patterns I’ve stitched use stitches over 2 threads and 6 threads. In these patterns while all the short stitches are over 2 threads, the long stitches are over 4 (upper horizontal)and 8 (lower horizontal) threads, and
There are so many things to love about samplers. Most importantly they give you a structured place to try new things. But they also give you a wonderful place to get yourself out of a rut. In my case, it’s a color rut. I’m not much of a pastel person so I decided that I’d use this little sampler to try working with a pastel palette. My color scheme is going to be based on the Watercolours shade Springtime, above, which is pinks, minty green, and a very pale yellow. I’m not sure at all why it’a in my stash or why I’ve used half a skein of it. I have a box with a glass top that’s 4×6, made for holding pictures. I bought it at a thrift shop. I’ll put my sampler into it. I’d like to have it go fast, so I’m not going to make many
Originally posted 2009-05-13 06:22:20. Republished by Blog Post PromoterA couple of weeks ago I got a comment asking about the canvas in a kit. The colors were too close to be distinguished and the stitcher, a beginner, was frustrated. This got me thinking about what should be present in a first needlepoint canvas. 1. Is the artwork clear? Many printed canvases (often in kits) are fuzzy a result, I think, of the inks used. If the colors aren’t clear, it’s not good for beginners. 2. Is it easy to distinguish one color from another? Many artists will “push” colors so the colors on the canvas can be easily distinguished, even though the colors of the threads are close. If there is a color key, use that to check. If there is not, look at the canvas itself. 3. Are there holes blocked with paint or flaws in the canvas? This
Originally posted 2009-10-27 07:19:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter As you can see I’m more than halfway through the background of m Game Needlepoint piece and I just love it. I changed to the next stitch on the list when someone was called by name or when my cat mewed. If I was in the middle of a stitch when the event occurred, I changed for the next stitch. This is a close-up of the top part of the mini-sock, a big block of background. As you can see the different textures of the stitches add lots of variety. I think using a hand-dyed thread with its subtle changes in shade enhanced this. All in all, a really fun way to stitch a background, I’m going to use it on the matching bunny mini-sock as well
Last week Kreinik’s blog had a wonderful post about using special scissors to cut metallics. This is a wonderful tool to have because metallics can dull regular scissors. You may be asking yourself what’s so special about these scissors? They have serrated blades (like a steak knife). And just like a steak knife they don’t need to be sharpened as often. Kreinik makes a number of different ones, you can see both in the post and through a link in the post to their site. I have a pair and I’m trying to remember where they are
Originally posted 2009-11-30 07:49:40. Republished by Blog Post PromoterHere’s the second half of the lovely new products just out for needlepoint. Remember that often manufacturer’s websites lag behind announcements, so the products I talk about may not be on the linked sites. Canvas Be still my heart! Zweigart has just come out with canvas in 35 over-dyed colors. This deluxe mono canvas is available in 10-12-13-14-16 and 18 mesh. Some of the colors include fuchsia, orange, light and dark olive, pink, lilac, violet, and several blues. It looks to be about 50% more than regular canvas. I’ll be getting some to try and will tell you about it. Painted Canvas Several lines of hand painted canvas needlepoint have come out with great new designs. One of my favorites, Dream House Ventures, has added to their vintage trade blanket series. The Pueblo blanket is mainly gray, red, white, and black. The
I’ve written before about how easily the motifs in Quaker Samplers can be adapted to needlepoint. Thanks to Kell Smurthwaite of Kincavel Krosses we have this absolutely charming Quaker Easter Egg. The chart is on her blog (the thumbnail is pictured here) and is free for personal use. To get a great Quaker look, stitch it in Continental with a hand-dyed thread for the red. Use a natural or cream color for the background. And you still have time to stitch it for Easter
Originally posted 2010-03-05 07:34:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Toxic chemicals, separate vessels, many precautions, like many people I look for alternatives to chemical dyes. Ideally they would be easy to do, safe around children and pets, and wouldn’t absolutely require me to use different tools and pots (because I don’t know where to put them). Inventive knitter and dyer Lee Meredith comes rushing to my rescue. You’ve read about Lee before. I’ve profiled her, tried her hand-dyed yarns recycled from sweaters, and adapted her game knitting ideas to needlepoint. Today I want to talk about her wonderful tutorials on dyeing. Lee’s first two tutorials about Kool-aid dyeing have been updated. The first part discusses her basic method and how to get a variegated yarn with Kool-aid. This part also has some great links to other sites about Kool-aid dyeing, including one to a color chart. The second part covers