I like eBay. Lots. I use it often to buy many things for myself and others. Although I am not by any means an eBay junkie, it has become essential to my business.

About once a month I spend quality time on eBay looking at needlepoint stuff. Mostly to see what people are selling and to look for some of the more obscure things I like.

So imagine my surprise yesterday when I went to eBay and found that on the default page the entire method of searching for items had changed, to something which some idiot at eBay thought would be helpful.

I’ve got just one word for them NOT!

In the almost 30 years I have been searching for information and things on the computer I have never seen anything as actively hostile as the new stuff they are testing on eBay.

Here is a real life example. A few months ago I was planning a Bargello project, but I didn’t know what I wanted to make. So I went to eBay and looked for a fun self-finishing item.

Here’s my search path:

Crafts
Needlepoint
Other Needlepoint

and I had a reasonable number of items to view (well under 1000) and found the lovely checkbook cover I’ve blogged about. Since I view 200 items at a time, this didn’t take long to do.

But with the new system I could not have done that. I could click on Crafts and get well over 100,000 items. I could narrow it down to a paltry 7000 or so by entering “needlepoint”

That 7000+ includes:
plastic canvas items
thread
kits
books
canvases
finished needlepoint

and who knows what all else.

I can narrow down the list by excluding words, but I can only do it one word at a time. By doing this I eventually got down to 5300 items.

I looked through the first page, went to the second and found some new terms to exclude, but to remove them from the search, I had to go back to the first page and would need to do that for every term I found.

Even at 200 items per page, there’s over 100 pages to look through.

And this took me over an hour to do and I was so exhausted by this unfriendly process I looked through a bit more than 2 pages.

Did I find anything useful — No.

Could I find anything useful — Not bloody likely.

There are so many good user search experiences out there. If I go to amazon and put in the name of a record my DH wants I get several other good choices. If I like movie on Netflix, the next time I’ll see some others I might like. As computer technology has gotten more sophisticated, the ability to find great stuff and make it enjoyable has improved as well. With this new “search experience” eBay has concocted, I am not happy, I don’t find what I want and it wasn’t even easy to find something as simple as a denim skirt in my size (that took half an hour of fussing).

If this was a new site, I could maybe understand, but eBay worked well, it had a flexible search structure which could grow in any direction. I allowed for serendipity as well as targeted search. It was easy to use.

Now we have the Big Brother approach to shopping. Where eBay “knows” that if I’m looking for a dress I can choose easily from the five most popular sleeve lengths, but what if I wanted short sleeves (not on that list) and I wanted to see both 8′s and smalls and mediums. And knee-length and mid-calf, but not minis, or long.

You are talking multiple searches here and even then you might feel as if something was missing.

So I’m Mad, I’m Complaining, and I want you to too.

Go tothe page to send eBay an email – you will need to sign in first or log in as a guest.

Then tell them you don’t like their test structure. And tell your friends to complain as well.

As my DH says, that’s the beauty of capitalism, if people complain, they don’t make changes. If people don’t buy, then they make the changes (or in this case don’t make the changes) even faster.

BTW, they answered my complaint almost immediately. If you want the old system (but please do complain first), go tohttp://shop.ebay.com and say you want to opt out of the test.

But I’m still upset that I had to complain to find this out, that they made the change and that, as a company, they are so full of pride they think they “know” what people want and don’t give them an option to browse.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Related posts:

1. The Joys of eBay
2. A Small Rant about Price/Value in Books
3. Blog Problems Update
4. Nautilus Shell & Technology Rant
5. Change in Education Needed

Four-way Bargello from Tripatalas.com

I still haven’t gotten around to doing this for her. But Althea’s recent post about vintage Bargello, got me thinking about it again. The post links to another great article fromRetro Renovation about Bargello’s popularity or the one about Bargello pillows. The article also shows some other great techniques like trianglepoint.

All this got me thinking about why Bargello looks so good with mid-century modern furniture and how you would go about creating your own collection.

Bargello and trianglepoint look good with this design style for two reasons, abstract geometry and color. The curves of Bargello and the angles of trianglepoint don’t represent anything, they just are pleasing patterns. The curves of Bargello create a nice counterpoint to the strong angles of the furniture (like the kidney-shaped coffee table or the round ottoman. The angles of trianglepoint take the mostly right angles of the furniture in a different direction. So there is good contrast inherent in them.

The colors of vintage needlepoint tend to be brighter and a bit harsher than what we would use today. Here is another bit of contrast, looking great against the pale or dull colors of the upholstery.

If you want to do this, how do you start collecting it? Although I have found pieces at thrift shops, the best thing to do is go to eBay and search for Bargello. Quite often you will find finished pieces of Bargello, sometimes even made into pillows. You will also find lots and lots of vintage kits and patterns. Many finished pieces go for under $20 and the patterns can be as little as a buck or two.

Let’s say you decide to make a pillow from a vintage pattern and you want it to look vintage, how do you start? First begin with a larger mesh size of canvas, 13 mesh is perfect, although you can use larger mesh. Plan to stitch your project in wool. In the 70′s Persian wool was about the only thread used for needlepoint

For a pattern, just about any Bargello needlepoint pattern will work. There are also lots of great vintage books out there from the period, so you can get patterns there.

There are so many places for color schemes, it’s hard to narrow them down. Look to older needlepoint books, decorating magazines, and fashions from the period. Because color reproduction for books and magazines is so much better today than for the period, look to books for collectors with current pictures. I’m particularly fond of the colors in Vera textiles and Pucci prints.

Bargello designs are timeless and work in any decor. While these tips are for making Bargello for a mid-Century modern scheme, you can adapt them to any decor.

Related posts:

1. Mid-Century Modern Needlepoint
2. Bargello Blast-off
3. Bargello Blast-off
4. Witty Four-way Bargello Design
5. Bargello – Magazine Alert December 2007

So I’m going to take an idea from Spinster Stitcher and Jane of Chilly Hollow and bog stitch a canvas from my stash. I’ll have occasional posts about it, so you can learn how I approach the project and maybe even stitch along with me. But I want you to help me decide which to stitch.

The first candidate, pictured above, is an Amanda Lawford canvas of London. I lie it because it’s small and I love the sky.

I love the shaded sky. I also love that I will be able to do many different stitches and use lots of threads from my stash for it.

design by charley harper

I like it because it’s a classic design of his and has many of his signature elements. I think it can have some cool stitches. On the downside, there will be lots of background.

Add your comments by Feb 6, I want to start this during the Super Bowl. One commenter, picked at random, will win a prize.

Related posts:

1. Blog Stitching – Making the Initial Decisions
2. Blog Stitching — Needlepoint a Ladybug
3. Charley Harper Is the Winner!
4. The Joys of Starting a New Project
5. Charley Harper Needlepoint

Here’s how to do it:

There are three steps to this process, neither particularly hard.

The first step is to measure the footstool. Do you still have the old top? If you do measure the length and width with the top on, so you know how much padding there is. Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found on All about Needlepoint.

Your measurement plus about 1/4″ all around will be the finished size of the stitching. Mark that shape onto your canvas with something like an Extra Fine Sharpie or, better, a Pigma Micron marker. Let dry overnight.

The second step is to stitch the needlepoint. You have tons of options here, but I’d like to suggest three.
1. Repeat the original pattern if you can find it.

2. Do a Bargello pattern, they are easy, can be done in colors to match your decor and are traditional for footstools. I have a book on Bargello, Bargello Revisited, available on Amazon, with over 30 different patterns, many of which will scale for a large piece. There are also more patterns and ideas in my eProject, Maple Leaf Rag and here on the blog. To find those, look at the category Bargello. Be warned though, there are many posts there. You can also check out the list of free Bargello patterns at All about Needlepoint.

3. Find a vintage needlepoint pattern you like. On my blog, I’ve been recharting designs by Anne Orr, who was popular in the 30′s-50′s, so her patterns have a vintage look. You find them under the category vintage needlepoint.

Once you have stitched the needlepoint, block it and use it, as you would fabric, to cover the footstool. You can do this yourself. Instructions to do this with a screw on top are at the end of the same All about Needlepoint article. eHow has detailed instructions for recovering round footstools and on using tacks to do this process. You need to use this method for any footstool where the top is not easily removable.

Related posts:

1. Bargello Blast-off
2. Bargello Blast-off
3. Tutorial on Creating Charts using Photoshop
4. Bargello Q&A – Virtual Book Tour Stop
5. Let’s Get . . . Series

There’s only one problem. It’s partially stitched, but hasn’t got the threads with it.

A reader wrote to me recently with this problem and it got me thinking about what to do.

The easiest thing is to find a friend or a shop who knows alot about threads and get their help identifying what’s there. Most likely you will do this at the end of the process but there are ways you can start the process yourself and make it easier.

You’ll need a pad of paper and a pen or pencil for this task. Use several sheets labelled New Threads (three columns), and Old Thread (five columns).

Begin by doing triage on the canvas.

Is all of a color or area stitched? Don’t worry about it.
Is none of an area or color stitched? Write that down on a piece of paper headed “New Threads.” These you’ll be able to pick yourself.
Is an area partially stitched? Is one of a pair of something (like shoes) stitched? These are where you will concentrate your time. Put them on the sheet labelled “Old Threads.”

The New Threads will be the ones you buy at the shop. They should be in keeping with the other threads in the piece. So you wouldn’t pick rayon for a new thread in a piece that was all wool so far. But for these threads you’ll be able to pick from what’s available now without a problem. There a very few threads that have no current equivalent (I can only think of a couple).

Spend your time on the old threads. In the second column note if this old thread is in an area that is part of a pair, partially stitched, or not contiguous with other areas in this thread. If it isn’t contiguous, it’s basically a new thread and you will only do the next step. Note this in the second column.

The third column is for characteristics of the old thread. Write down as many as you can figure out. What fiber is it? Is it stranded? Is it metallic or a ribbon? Is it shiny? All these things help identify the thread. For example a shiny, non-metallic ribbon might be Neon Rays, but if it’s kind of translucent, it’s probably Flair or Rachel. All you need to know is the characteristics, not the thread.

The fourth column is for your suspect thread, if you know it. If you’ve been needlepointing for awhile, then you might recognize some threads. If you know the age of the piece, you can ID some threads. For example, a stranded wool is likely to be Medici. An overdyed floss from several years ago might be Needle Necessities. Neither of these threads is made. But there are some equivalents and substitutes. That Needle Necessities would now be Threadworx.

At this point the canvas has given up its secrets to you. Now you need to find a friend or a shop with a large selection of threads. That’s what the last column is for — the new thread.

To find the new thread you will want to match the thread and color as closely as possible. Once you have found these threads, you can stitch away unless the area is partially stitched.

In a future column, I’ll talk about matching stitches and what to do if the dyelots are different.

Related posts:

1. New Thread Line – ThreadworX
2. Kreinik’s Holographic Threads – Product Review
3. Stitches, Thread Color and “Show Through”
4. Creating a Color Palette
5. Mitered Florentine Ornament Freebie

It gave me pause, because I was also looking at The Needlepoint Book, first published 21 years later.

Since most of us started stitching after the needlepoint “revolution” of the early 70′s we probably don’t think about it much, but the needlepoint of the 50′s was very different.

In the 50′s almost all needlepoint was pre-worked and very traditional in style. Furnishings inspired by the American colonies was popular and these designs fitted well in those decors.

Wool ruled to the exclusion of almost anything else. Original design was not encouraged, in the 50′s book only a short chapter near the end covers it.

Half-cross was the default stitch. Although Basketweave and Continental are covered, every picture of the back of stitching is half-cross. Only one non-tent stitch is even mentioned, Bargello, and no Bargello pieces are shown, so you can’t do a project in Bargello from this book.

Then look at The Needlepoint Book. You are encouraged to design your own projects and the author’s original designs are throughout the book. There are many, many stitches, both pictured and diagrammed.

You learn advanced techniques, in the 50′s book the only advanced technique covered is how to repair or splice canvas. You learn about color and design. All this was before the revolution in threads.

Even so, The Needlepoint Book from the 70′s looks contemporary and is still useful. The book from the 50′s looks quaint.

Think how far we have come!

Related posts:

1. My Answers to the Needlepoint Survey
2. Ultimate Big Book of Finishing, Needlework Knowledge and Techniques – book review
3. Book Review – The Best Bargello Book
4. Creating Contemporary Bargello – book review
5. New Search Capabilities

It’s so simple that it could be a beginning project if you wanted to try counted needlepoint. I’m also thinking it would be great for other techniques using charts like beadwork, filet crochet or cross stitch.

Want to try your hand at beading on canvas? Stitch the veins in a dark brown first. Then make a mix of beads in fall leaf colors. Pick the colors randomly as you stitch. It will be glorious.

Related posts:

1. Vintage Needlepoint – Anne Orr Leaves
2. Leaf Mask
3. Maple Leaf Rag – Beginning Bargello Sneak Peek
4. Fall Needlepoint – Leaves Three Ways
5. Vintage Needlepoint – Anne Orr’s Pomegranate Border

Basically the idea is you look for something recurring in a game show and change something in the knitting every time that happens. You could expand it to work for other shows as well. Choose the laugh track for a sit com, someone clapping on a talk show, a penalty in a football game.

The key is randomness, something harder to do than you might think. As long as the action happens repeatedly but not at regular intervals it’s perfect for this.

After you’ve decided on your event, you need to decide what to vary. Stitches or threads work best. If you vary stitches, make a list of stitches the same size. if you vary threads, pick your stitch and pull out a pile of threads.

When the event occurs, change, either to a random choice or to the next one on your list. In my case I decided that whenever a person used another person’s name in a TV show I’d change the stitch. I like this because it works for lots of different kinds of shows. If we’re not watching TV, I’m going for when the cat mews, but only if it’s been awhile.

I decided on stitches that are 4 threads square and made a list of eight. They are: Crossed Corner, Pillow Scotch, Split Scotch,Reverse Scotch, Mosaic-Rice, Divided Scotch, Cashmere Brickwork, and Framed Mosaic. I chose a shade of Gumnut Poppies for the background to get some variation in color as well.

I’m happily working away and will update you with a picture and stitch diagrams next week.

Related posts:

1. Game Needlepoint Update
2. Scrap Bag Diamonds – Free Stash Buster Needlepoint Pattern
3. Come Stitch with Me – Winter Stars Part 1
4. Sunburst Mosaic Ornament — Free Needlepoint Pattern
5. Random Needlepoint Background

Auctions can be very bad places for your budget, so it’s best to do some preparation before you go. First, look at your stash and know where you have holes and what things you collect.

My friend who came with me collects snowmen, she bought 2. I have been wanting to do a Mindy mini-sock and found one. I have always wanted to try using Sisha mirrors in my needlepoint; the Aspen project pictured below does just that.

Remember what’s in your stash and don’t rebuy or buy back what you donated. I’ve done this. It’s often a problem at local auctions. They shop at the same shops you do, there will be canvases and projects there you already own.

As you can see by the pictures (by no means everything I got), I found canvases, projects large and small, vintage books, an intriguing 8-way Bargello mostly done, and a large canvas project bag. Not bad for a morning’s shopping!

Related posts:

1. Needlecrafter’s Travel Companion — Book Review
2. Bargello Revisited Back in Stock
3. Organizing When You Don’t Have the Space
4. Needlepoint Resolutions as a Way to Conquer your Stash
5. Calling Bay Area & Sacramento Stitchers!

She said ” I love all bargello and wanted to try it out. . . . Most of it was done from leftover Watercolors but the picture doesn’t really do the colors justice. . . . I do like the stitch. Obviously you can see the “teeth” of the canvas and if I was stitching this again I’d paint or dye the canvas to match the thread. But overall I do like it.”

See what great things you can do with a little time and some leftover threads?

Related posts:

1. Scrap Bag Diamonds – Free Stash Buster Needlepoint Pattern
2. Great Four-way Bargello Freebie!
3. Stash-busting Contest Update
4. Easter Weekend Bargello Treat
5. Color Selection