Thursday, December 28, 2006

My Eyes are Crossing

Aside from the holidays and party preparation, I've been spending lots of time with needle in hand. First up was the plackett for the bodice front on my new German. Lots of pearls and coral on gold silk. I opted for slightly larger pearls and coral as the tiny seed size looked too small even at the 3' range. The large gives a better eye catch whether across the room or up close. The downside is the lack of detail, but... Yes I'll post pics, but right now the piece is at the dressmakers.

Next up was the surprise for my friend who is being laureled at 12th Night. Since she reads this blog, I'll talk more about it after 12th Night. Hope she likes it. It sure has bling!

Meanwhile car rides were dedicated to doing some filet lace. I have hemstitched the handkerchief. The lace is on 9 count net with #12 pearl cotton. I'm doing a pattern from the Vinciolo modelbuchen. At this point don't know how many pieces I'll get done before 12th Night. I do want to have at least 1 pattern done and inset to display. I'd really like to do it finer, but I can not find finer netting commercially. Did some looking at some period pieces. The number of thread passes is similar even if the count is larger (sigh).

Now I'm doing the blackwork band for my older german front piece. I also need to finish the goldwork band that goes above the blackwork band. The goldwork is on 40 count gauze and some rows are 300 stitches - a pattern from Quentel's modelbuchen. The blackwork band is on 36 count linen over 1. The blackwork pattern was adapted for me by Linn Skinner from another modelbuchen pattern.
I hope to finish them this weekend.

THEN I need to stitch the pincushion for my column - tent stitch in silk, 36 count, and silver metal thread gobelin for the background. I also want to do period style tassels with wooden cores and a fingerloop braided cord.

That said - back to stitching. Hope 2007 is a wonderful year for all of you and a peaceful one for the world.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Catching Up

I know that I've been bad and not blogging a lot lately. Most of my time has been spent juggling clearing out more the of the estate stuff on ebay, craigs list, etc, hearing a few cases, doing the EGA thing at the local and region level, and working on my column. As promised here is the goldwork piece which as been the focus of the last few columns.

The outline is jap which is brick stitched with an added couple lines of twist. The silver circle is jap - brick circular couched - outside to inside. The copper was supposed to have been undersided, but since I backed the 28ct linen... Upper left panel is the OrNue piece - Needlepoint Inc silks over gold passing. Upper right panel is also gold passing with au ver a soie 100/3 silk in a very renaissance pattern. Lower left is the same with a different pattern. Lower right is jap from a different manufacturer with gold 100/3 for the sides and purple regular au ver a soie for the pattern which is also renaissance in origin.

I learned a lot doing each of the areas. 2 major problems occurred. The first is turning 2 threads - with the 28 ct, even backed, doing the plunge the outside thread DID NOT work cleanly. The second problem is the packing of the threads, especially in the Or Nue section, but you can see my prior post on that issue. One unanticipated problem was that the silver section is too big to my eye now that it is in the box top. It looked fine when the piece was surrounded by white linen.

I am currently working on:
beading the front placket on my 12th Night dress
finishing the project for my next column on gobelin (16th C pincushion)
finishing the german brick stitch piece into a pouch (versus the needlecase in the column)
finishing the pattern darning piece into a box top
finishing a handkerchief with lace inserts - the hem stitching is done (handkerchief linen - about 50 count)
finishing a secret project for a friend
putting together a display on period lace for 12th Night

Plus working on arrangements to bring Jane Nicholas (Stumpwork) to the states in 2007 and Sharon Boggins (Encrusted Crazy Quilting) in 2008. Plus designing a needlework piece to be made into kits for people waiting in hospitals for our wounded servicemen. Plus designing a 1 day workshop or freebie for the 2008 Regional.

Off now to finish planning our holiday party, visit to the relatives, and getting ready for tomorrows SCA event.