Many designers, in addition to the ones mentioned here have fantastic new canvases, often listed on their websites. Check onthe links for their newest canvases to see them.
OVERALL TRENDS
Although knitting seemed to overwhelm the show floor, I thinkthis show marks the beginning of a resurgence of theneedlepoint market.
Why did knitting seem to take up so much space? First, andmost importantly, their booths were big. While knitting boothsseemed bigger than last year, needlepoint booths were smaller.However they were busy. Most exhibitors I spoke with werehaving great shows. For you, the stitcher, this means that therewill be lots of new projects, threads, and canvases showing upin your local shops.
The overall look of needlepoint canvases is moving towardsyoung, hip designs with fresh colors and lots of style. This ishappening while still retaining the timeless quality which is such a large part of needlepoint’s appeal. There are plenty of designs out there for young people as well as designs which will appealto older and more traditional stitchers.
The big trend in needlepoint is on needlepoint for personaladornment. Personalization in clothes is a major trend, in fashion, in crafts, and in needlework. It’s part of what fuels the
popularity of hand-knitted garments. It also fuels things like tattoos, piercings and monograms. In needlepoint this trend is showing up not only in the popularity of belts, bags, and shoes,but in needlepoint bracelets and even in needlepoint denim
jackets (see below for details).
For beginning stitchers and for people with older eyes, more and more needlepoint is available on larger mesh sizes, particularlyon 13 and 14 mesh. Many designers offer their canvases on more than one mesh size. A few years ago, this was rare, today it is getting more common. While you LNS might not carry a design on the larger mesh, it is well worth your time to ask and to order it in a different mesh if needed. Remember needlepoint
is fun, don’t struggle with tiny holes if stitching on a different size of canvas is more pleasurable.
THREADS
As always some of my favorite things at the show were new threads. Kreinik, Caron, Needle Necessities, and Rainbow Gallery have new colors coming out in their thread lines. Caron has 14 new colors of Watercolours (mid-Feb) and Wildflowers (early March). Needle Necessities has ten new floss colors, including several which are closely related shades. Kreinik has six new metallic colors, available in all sizes which will be in shops in February. Rainbow Gallery has new shades of several threads, including 34 colors of Mandarin Floss, 11 colors of Fluffy Fleece (a couched thread) and lots more.
Thread Gatherer has introduced three new threads. Sea Grass is 100% cotton and has a stiff raffia-like quality. There are solids and solids with a black core. If you are looking for a thread for brooms — this is it, the pale gold is perfect. It’s less than 1/16″
wide, so it will work well on 18 mesh. Black Sheep is a 100% wool fiber designed to be needlefelted directly onto canvas. I saw the results and they are unusual and lovely. Savoir Faire is a silk grosgrain ribbon, giving a different effect from flat silk
ribbons. Gumnut Yarns has added a new family of blues across their line of threads.
Soy Lustre is a new thread from Elements. It is made from 100% soy, a fiber which knitters have been using for awhile. It is soft but has luster like silk. The colors are hand-dyed and come in two kinds, solids and shadows. The shadows combine three
shades of the same color in a skein. The runs of color are longer than most hand-dyes and they are designed to go with the sold colors. I saw a large piece stitched with this thread and it’s a real winner. It comes in 82 colors.
Aubusson Wool is a French crewel weight wool imported by Tapestry Guild. If you mourn the loss of “old” Medici, this thread is a worthy substitute. It is tightly twisted and very smooth. It comes in solids as well as some tone on tone colors.
Vineyard Silk is a new company with three different styles of silk. This thread works in a single strand for 18 mesh or colored 14 mesh canvas. There are 115 solids, 38 shimmers (which combine silk with metallic, and 18 tone on tones which are shaded colors I can’t wait to get samples to try.
NEEDLEPOINT TO WEAR & CARRY
The product which probably generated more interest than any other at the show was Birds of a Feather’s needlepoint denim jacket. In these designs, the yoke of the jacket is replaced with needlepoint. The company sells the needlepoint, you buy the jacket (so you can pick your style and size) and you send both back to them to be completed. It is completely cool. You can also purchase a jacket and have it made with a blank canvas
insert to stitch later. I loved it and am going to check out my jeans jacket to see if it will work.
Several companies had needlepoint bracelets of different kinds. Melissa Shirley has a stitch guide book coming out with instructions for five bracelets. Bongo had several bracelet
designs which are self-finished with a jewelry slider. Voila also has bracelets which are finished with velcro and L’Esprit de France had needlepoint bangles.
Both Uniquely New Zealand and L’Esprit de France had watch kits. The bands come in many different styles and there are also several different watch faces to accompany them.
Lots of companies make needlepoint bags which can include needlepoint. Danji has several fabric bags. One of them can use a needlepoint belt around the top. Because it comes with a grosgrain ribbon, you won’t have to wait until the needlepoint is finished to use it. Lee’s Needle Arts has several new bags. The City Bag has a more formal and structured look than any of the other bags, while the Shopper Tote is so cool, in canvas and leather, I wanted to take the model home. It has five pockets and an attached cosmetic bag.
FINISHING & PRE-FINISHED ITEMS
Uniquely New Zealand has a great new bracelet. The kit has a bracelet with spaces for individual pieces of needlepoint. Choose from their canvas, stitch and secure the edges with
glue. Two-sided adhesive is used to attach the needlepoint to the bracelet. The finished product is delightful.
Tapistree has a fantastic new idea in Christmas stockings – a sophisticated idea which can be done at almost the last minute. The stockings are available in several colors in either a boot or stocking shape. All have openings for lovely and sophisticated painted canvases. Available designs include Wise Men, an Angel, a lovely Christmas Tree, the Holy Family and a couple of shepherd designs. Stitch the canvas and insert into the stocking. In addition they have tassels and nametags which also have canvas inserted. These stockings are not only lovely, they will be fast to stitch and finish.
If you are looking for a charming project, look at Whiskey Creek’s new calendar. This is another fast self-finishing project. The calendar is on a easel which has sliding holders at tops and bottom. They have 3″ square canvases to go next to the calendar on the easel. Stitch and block the needlepoint, finish the sides (not the top and bottom), remove the sliders, put the needlepoint on the board and replace the sliders. The calendars can be
replaced each year and the designs are great. This is a fun project and would make a fantastic gift, either finished or as a project for a new stitcher.
AMH is a new company which has linen-covered notebooks and photo albums. Both have circular openings for their geometric needlepoint designs. They come as complete kits. Chameleon Design has added three new colors and a new size to their
popular canvas tote bags. They are also available with a zipper top.
Romancing the Past is now making their Treasure Boxes with a 5″ square opening. Sudberry has wonderful Lucite Boxes in black and clear. The shape of these small boxes is unusual – a traditional shape in a modern material. Sudberry also has a great red lacquer tray as well as some lacquer boxes.
PAINTED CANVAS
Angel Thread has put several of their popular angels onto painted canvas. In addition, they have several new scissors cases. Canvasworks*Traditions has some great figure sets,
Nativity, Thanksgiving and Noah’s Ark. The canvases are small and make great take-along projects. Our Faithful Friends has added several cat canvases to their line and has both cat and dog ornaments, all with crowns. There are several other small designs in the works. Ruth Schnuff had a series of city map canvas, with the name of the city (London, Paris, Tokyo) superimposed on a street map of the city.
Princess & Me has added last year’s ornament of the month club (minis) into their regular line. There are 34 canvases in the set, as well as additional mini-mittens and little hats. This year’s ornament of the months is Halloween. Rebecca Wood also has a great series of Halloween figures, including a wonderful haunted house. Speaking of Halloween Julia’s Needleworks had a clever set of broomstick ornaments.
A Collections of Designs had a clever ornament idea — needlepoint shopping bags. The front and back were painted and the bottom was plain. Finished as bags, they can be small
gift holders as well as ornaments. Maggie Co has added a new artist, Tingle Heart and has expanded her lines of canvases from other artists. I’m addicted to her geometric canvases and if you like them, but wanted something smaller, look again, she has many smaller designs based on these great folk art patterns.
DeElda has a monthly series of heart designs, Terry Christopher of 2 the Point will be doing stitch guides. Barbara Fox had a lovely series of Far North ornaments, done in a traditional style with cobalt blue skies. She also has fun small canvases for Romancing the Past Treasure Boxes and Eyeglass cases Patti Mann had great biscuit tins with needlepoint sides and pewter tops.
In Good Company has a clever new idea — Candle Cozies. These are rectangular canvases finished with ribbon ties. You tie them around jar candles. Because of the ribbons they can fit many sizes. They also have a wonderful new series of mini socks featuring regions like “Down South,” or “Out West.” They have a great vintagey style which reminds me of souvenir postcards.
Julie Pishke has added several new designs to her series of minis. These are such fun to make and work as ornaments, coaster or box inserts. Among the new designs are a set of
three Key Cottages. You can change the colors and the plants to make them look like Victorian cottages in your town.
Sharon G has added several new canvases to her landscape series, including a companion to Lavender Fields. She also has a Four Seasons series of a creek landscape., expanding that series. Melissa Shirley has several canvases of Chinese cloisonne bottles in two sizes. Ann Wheat Pace has added to her line of large and small crosses with some lovely and
delicate floral designs. There were several stitched models in her booth and I wanted to stitch them all. dede’s Needleworks had a set of great new tropical leaves canvases, very bold designs as well as three new flowers: Passion Flower, Honeysuckle and Clementis.
Red Thread has greatly expanded their line of Tool Totes to include some great geometrics, a polar bear, coral, and two great realistic poodles. If you finish off the rounded corners,
these canvases will also fit in a Lee’s Needle Arts’ bag.
Happy Heart is a new designer with a bright style. She has a great series of door knob hangers for holidays. Another wonderful new designer is Kelly Clark Needlepoint. Many of her canvases are available in 13 or 18 mesh. Her Santas have a wonderful timeless look about them and I just love her Twelve Days of Christmas series.
GailVail was featuring “needlepoint for guys,” needlepointed 3-D baseballs, basketballs, footballs, soccer balls and hockey pucks. They can also personalize them with team names. She also has clever “stick figure” ornaments which show a stick figure doing things like skiing. They are just too witty and would make a clever addition to a Christmas tree. I can’t wait until spring for stick figure man to try new things!
Kathy Schenkel had so many great things. Her new series includes painted wood desk accessories in 5 themes. There are canvases and 5 wood items in each. She also has a new series of eggs and a great painted wood egg stand. She has expanded her drink series of canvases to include things like cherry sodas and root beer floats.
BOOKS
There is a new revision of The Thread Thesaurus now available. It covers 100 new threads and has added a section on ribbons.
Subversive Stitching is definitely NOT stuffy needlepoint and they have just come out with a book of charts. There cheeky designs combine simple borders with in your face sayings. They have a book out and although it is for cross stitch, the designs can be
adapted to needlepoint.
Linda Corirossi has written a second Canvas Embellishment book, with lots of new stitches and ideas for stitching your canvas.
If you like charted projects, there are a couple of new books of interest. Icelandic Designs in Needlepoint explores these traditional designs with lots of large projects and small motifs
you can use to design your own canvases. Exotic Fruit & Flowers in Needlepoint is by Stella Knight and will be available in March. Judging from the cover it looks to have some great
designs in timeless but still contemporary style.
TOOLS
In the why didn’t someone make this before category is K’s Creations new Thread Clam. A translucent plastic box it can hold four small size Kreinik spools. There are four holes in the top. On the sides are velcro dots to keep the thread ends secure. Put your thread in the box and thread the end through the hole. Easy to use for stitching and if it falls the thread will all be there.
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