Random Needlepoint Background

Thursday, October 15, 2009

beau geste hand painted canvas showing janet perry's random wool background technique

Sometimes the background really is the focal point of the needlepoint as it was in this vintage canvas from Beau Geste I made several years ago. But how do you make it really special? This technique is adapted from a knitting technique from Philosopher’s Wool in Canada.

Being by picking out the color you want to use, dark blue in this case. Find six different threads in this color. You can pick more than six but group them into six piles. At least one should be an overdye.

Make a list of them and number them. find your self a die.

Star the background and roll the die. The number that comes up is the number of the thread you use. If you’ve made piles of thread, roll the die again and this is the thread within that pile.

sample chart for stitching random thread background

Roll the die again. This is the number of rows of that thread you will. stitch. Just start and stop the thread at different points along the row. Use Continental ora any other stitch made in horizontal rows.

When you run out of a thread, pick another thread of that color for that spot. The result is far more dramatic than the effort required.


Related posts:

  1. Blackwork as Background
  2. February Random Thoughts on Needlepoint
  3. Random Stripe Generator
  4. Sponge Painting for a Needlepoint Design Background
  5. January Random Thoughts on Needlepoint

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3 Responses to “Random Needlepoint Background”

  1. Great one Janet. Got me interested in wanting to try this technique. Love the background shown

    #8527
  2. BFromM

    That is a very cool effect. I love to watch color move. I will definitely try this technique.

    #8533
  3. [...] Janet Perry of Nuts About Needlepoint shares a “game” that produces random color changes for any project in which the background is actually the focus of the piece. Learn the game. [...]

    #8611

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