Bluebirds needlepoint cushion

In September last year I bought this Bothy needlepoint cushion kit from The Fox Collection. I had forgotten I already had a similar peacock kit, but I do love a bluebird. I can’t hear the word without doing my Vera Lynn rendition.

I really am trying to keep stitching as I buy, but I don’t consistently manage it. In March I also succumbed to  an Ehrman kit for a poppies cushion. So, a year on, I set about working the Bluebirds.

I mounted the canvas in a roller frame which I clamped on to my Lowry. The roller frame was adequate. One of  the four wing nuts had worn out the thread and wouldn't grip. I could just manage with the others working.

I began in the centre and worked out. Unlike the last needlepoint cushion I did (the bee), this one is patterned all over, with tiny figures rather like a Morris wallpaper, so there are no big blocks of either background or figures. The white background is a pattern in itself, requiring not much less concentration than the figures. This makes working it more interesting- but slower. I now think it also meant my tension was more variable.

I worked sections at a time, beginning with the green leaves, then the red, then the blue and finally the white background. I put the tiny touches  (centres of eyes & flowers) at the end. This gave me some sense of progress and satisfaction in what proved to be quite a complex project.

It took me nearly a month to complete the first section of the roller frame, which was, I think, about 60% of the canvas.  I finished as much as I could on the first section late at night and went to bed happy, leaving it until the morning to rotate the frame and complete the challenge.

Completeing the green and starting on the blue took several days.               
Once the tedium of filling in the white was over, I set about adding a border, to make the cushion about 6cm wider. I'd rather have a 44cm cushion than a 38cm one.                                                                                                                

 I had quite a bit of creamy/white wool left, and a whole lot more in my stash from previous projects. Rather than stitching rows and rows in the same direction, I decided to stitch it in blocks, alternating the stitch direction in each one. The white wool was mostly in hanks and the shade inconsistent, either from age or dyelot. I figured the variation in direction would make this less a problem. As I got started on this, the roller frame was proving a liability. It loosened as I worked and tightened only partially.                                                      By now two of the four wing nuts were refusing to turn. I did a search on local slate frames. There was very little on offer, but Create in Stitch has a local maker, and managed to source one for me in seven days.  I picked it up within an hour of the phone call.                                                

It was newly waxed. I was setting it up within minutes of arriving home.     While it's a bit large with the full cushion exposed, I wanted to see the full border as I worked it. I had completed most of the side borders on the roller, but slate frame held the canvas taut and the Lowry allowed me to rotate the frame and keep the working surface in front of me.   

I worked on it every time I could manage to finish it over two and a half days. While it takes up space, it is a much better working set up.

The slate frame packs up fairly conveniently. It will store with the two Swifts!

It is now being blocked. The variation in the cream background looks a bit better. I used all the spare cream thread. I panicked a bit when I picked up the slate frame. Create in Stitch don't carry tapestry wool, so I called at The Needle Nook and bought their last two skeins of DMC Ecru. I didn't need them - but I came within 40 cm!

I have ordered 3 zippered cushion backs on eBay, which are on their way. The seller has a UK address, but I very much doubt that's where the parcel is coming from. There is no tracking, and it's predicted sometime in the next fortnight.

I'm not holding this post to include the construction. The post is alread too long and it could be a long wait.

I think I'm going to like the result. I'm planning to take a break from needlepoint until after Christmas. As much as I like it, you can have too much of a good thing!

Canvaswork Needlecase Sampler with Carol Mullan

This was a two-day class at the Guild. Carol is a great teacher, totally focused on students, always working to enable them to create for themselves. We were asked to bring blending threads and a contrast, and to try plain and variegated.

I began with blending, but then grabbed a set of variegated I had bought and forgotten about years ago. What a good idea!

At the class, all the sensible students are busy making colour harmony, while I am being carried away with my newly recovered colour possibilities.  

The design is Carol’s and I shalln’t discuss it. Obviously, it consists of squares in a grid. Mine is not accurate.  By the end of Day One I had stitched myself into a kind of colour gridlock (above) with only a vague idea of how I was going to escape.

Very few of the Guild chairs are comfortable for a full day class, but I didn’t do too badly. However, at the end of the second day, as I was trying to finish the first side, my eyes would not cooperate and I stopped half an hour early.

I had a few other higher priority projects on the go, and had  intended to finish the last corrner then put this aside until after Christmas. However, my mind kept playing. It occurred to me that I did not have to work the grid again. As the ideas kept coming, I decided to keep going. 

I worked a central set of squares to colour-match the spine, then the date and my initials. From there I worked designs all the way around the edges, choosing the colours to blend and merge.

 

I focused on colour and overall pattern rather than variety of stitches. By now I was so focused on finishing that I forget to edge it before cutting it out - forcing me to work the edge with very little leeway.

The back is certainly not pretty, but it does provide strength! I've tidied the initials so they are readable but not dominant.

I found an appropriate scrap of poplin to line it before adding doctor's flannel, a button and a loop. It came out surprisingly well.

  I hadn't expected to end up so quickly with a useful and attractive needlecase. Thanks Carol.

Embroidered trousers

Kasia Jacquot advertised a workshop on embroidering jeans. I really liked the idea and the pattern. I even liked the cinnamon colour of the jeans but couldn't find them in my size. When Nancy Bird advertised her Sol pants in a cinnamon colour and my size, I grabbed the opportunity and ordered a pair (the colour is now sold out). They arrived last Friday, along with some more printed linens from Kasia. As I reported last week, I turned some of the linens into ornaments for the Guild Christmas sale. I got working on the pants straight after.

I thought they might be too long, but they fitted really well, including the length. I transferred one of Kasia’s designs by hand using a washable ink, then went over it with a fine archival pen. You can see both lines are rough - fine as a guide for the bottom of my pants!

I worked it in a hoop -  necessary to get the tension and to preserve my hands. This meant the embroidery was some 6" up from m the cuff but I think that's better than working without a hands-free hoop. Although it looks messy, the hanging fabric was easy to manage and I could work some of it with one hand inside through the waist, some with my hand through the leg opening.

The stitches are simple - satin stitch, stem stitch and leaf stitch. I kept the colours close to the ten shades Kasia uses. The flower heads are DMC22, the leaves in three close shades of olive green and the centres DMC420.

The most difficult part was stitching over the seam that runs down the centre of the leg.  In a couple of places it was easier to do this out of the hoop 

For the most part, each of the three flowers fitted within a 6" hoop with a final move or two to connect up the stem.

I had originally intended to embroider both legs, but decided that was overkill. My granddaughters agreed - asymetrical is best.

I think it would, perhaps, be better located lower on the leg, but it is fine as is.

It's not my usual palette, and I haven't worn them yet, but I tried a few tops against them and think I have at least three that will work

Summer will tell.

Ornaments for the Guild Christmas Sale

The Embroiderers’ Guild holds an annual Christmas fundraising sale, sometimes as a Market, sometimes a Stash Sale. This year organisers appealed for bookmarks and ornaments. When I enquired about my printed paper bookmarks, the idea was readily embraced, so I have 40 of those ready to go. 

Recently Kasia Jacquot had a sale which included a print of her small Folk Motifs on Linen. One I have in mind as a Christmas gift. I thought the lower three could be backed and stuffed to make ornaments for the Guild. The linen arrived on Thursday and I set to work.

I began with the bird (mainly because it was the easiest one to cut out!), working it in my hand, then cutting it out leaving about half a centimetre margin, which I folded under.

I had  thought of beading the edges togrther, but decided that would be overkill, so buttonholed the edges together. It was a very fat bird when finished, but I wasn't going to undo.  

None of the regular wool felt I had was a suitable colour, so I used part of a piece of hand-dyed felt in my stash. It was a bit thinner than ideal, but worked well enough.

I added a message after It was stitched together. Awkward, but possible.

I tackled the next two together, embroidering both before cutting out. This time I didn't stuff them as full. 

I still decided to button-hole the back to the front. I was tempted to bead, but decided it wasn't secure. In the end I machined the edges together, then buttonholed over the machine stitches. That's secure and looks OK.

The backs use more hand-dyed felt, and have a word - stitched before cutting! 

I do hope somebody likes them.

The embroidery on the house motif was slightly more challenging - partly in deciding on stitches and also because the message is longer.

I decided not to embroider every component. The windows seemed best left as printed.

I finally got the chance to add sequins and beads. While I machined the sides and base, the roof line is secure and stable with sequins and beads.  Interestingly, the straight lines make it much easier to ensure the sides are secure. 

This is intended as a Christmas gift and I'm hoping the person I have in mind will like and use it.

I’ve had some little cross-stitched stockings ready to make for several years and was thinking of finishing these for the Christmas sale,  but other things have taken priority. It looks unlikely I will manage these this year.

So, in addition to the bookmarks, I now have a small collection of decorations for the Guild Christmas sale.  I also dug out a couple of hardanger snow flakes I’ve made but not yet gifted, and similarly a beaded Santa. 

I don't know if these will be of interest to people, but I'm very pleased to have brought the idea to fruition, rather than adding to my considerable pile of unstarted or unfinished projects! 

The two remaining motifs can wait. Given their shapes, I plan to back these with template plastic to make either pinwheels or flat decorations - maybe next year. This is enough for one weekend.

Spritz cardigan

After the Wattle Bag and the knitted tote, I thought it time I got into one of the (several) larger projects I have waiting. I have two cardigans waiting to be started - both intended for myself. While the Kate Davies one in English Breeds wool was bought nearly two years ago, it is complicated. The other, in a cotton/alpaca mix looked more straightforward, and, if I can finish it before Christmas, could be put to use, if not in summer, at least in Autumn 2026 (that, remember is March-June here in Australia).

The yarn, as you can see, was in hanks. It is several years since I used my swift to wind yarn. I looked everywhere for it, taking my craft cupboard apart, doing a bit of sorting as I went about it. No sign of the swift, but the cupboard is a bit better organised.

The simple Amish swift I had bought at the Yarn Trader is no longer available in Adelaide. From the information on websites it is either discontinued or out of stock. In the end, I sourced another one in Victoria and paid for express delivery. Ordered on Sunday, it arrived on Tuesday. I set to work immediately. Over the next three days I wound all 7 skeins.

It was only on the sixth skein that I worked out that, rather than working from a lounge chair, with the swift on the floor, it was far more efficient to have the swift on a table, at the same height as my hands - fewer tangles and no yarn working its way off the pegs.

The pattern was not as straightforward as I had expected. There are textured bands running horizontally throughout. The sizing is not generous. Measurements are only given for the bust, not hips.While the largest of the three sizes covered is right for my bust, the calculation I did, based on the recommended tension and number of stitches, suggest it is not likely to fit my hips. As it is knitted in rectangles, adding width is unlikely to cause problems. However, given that each of the given size difference was 8 stitches, I added 24 stitches to make sure. It was likely, therefore, that I would need more yarn.  Each of the three given sizes recommended an extra skein of yarn. I figured I would need at least one, and probably two, extra. 

Again, the Crafty Frog in Canberra, where I bought the yarn, has no stock left. Eventually I sourced a supply in Tasmania. I wondered if I should wait to see how much I got knitted from each skein, but since there were few places with stock,  I ordered two more skeins straight away. 

It took a while to figure out how to create the textured band. Once I worked out that Purl=ridge means  'use a row of purl in a knit row', I was underway.

The first ball ran out at 28cm. At that rate, I might have managed without the extra skeins if I'd been careful. As it is, I should be able to add another 15-20com to the length.

I'm posting this well before the project is anywhere near finished, My plan at the moment is to keep going until I have used two balls of yarn and make that the armhole insertion point (provided, of course, the extra yarn arrives!).

Now I know how it works, it's fairly easy knitting. It is, however, relatively fine, so doesn't grow quickly.

I will probably not post again until it is finished. That's certainly weeks, maybe months, away. In the meantime, I've been winding skeins I have in my stash. I've added two more balls to this pile since taking the photo, but the swift is now packed away to use the table for a family dinner. I've found patterns for these, but they are jobs for a much later date! 

Wattle Tote

I’m making an effort, in between knitting projects, to diminish the pile of Ink and Spindle linen bags I have cut out. I began with this heavyweight Golden Wattle on Indigo 

My idea with all these bags is to embroider a couple of highlights but let the hand-printed linen speak for itself.

In this case I planned to cover some of the wattle bloom with Ghiordes knots. For those unfamiliar,  Ghiordes knots are made by creating and anchoring a series of loops close together then cutting the loops. 

The fun part is fluffing up the cut threads.

Creating the loops is exacting, and, to me, a bit tiresome on scale. I was pleased to get to the end of the small bunch I’d chosen.

The threads need to be brushed up with a small stiff brush. When I first worked these, some 15 years ago, I bought a boo-boo stick - a brush designed for removing mistakes in cross-stitch. It’s a while since I used it, and I couldn’t find it. It’s in that safe place.  They are hard to come by in Australia. I’ve ordered another one from Tasmania, a guarantee the original one will turn up!

In the meantime. I found an adequate substitute in the brush end of a dressmaker"s pencil.

Ink and Spindle linen comes in three weights, and I use all three for these bags. This one is heavyweight, which does give a lovely firm surface to work with.

I have a big pile of these bags waiting to be made, all cut out ready to construct once the embroidery is done. I cut according to the shape of the piece, which in this case was separate front, back and sides for the outside, but the lining was cut with the front and sides on one piece and the back and bottom on the other. It took me a while to figure it out! The strip left for handles was a bit thin, so I substituted some denim.

Once I figured all that out, it took under an hour to stitch the bag together on the machine.

I tested the result out on a couple of family members. As I feared they thought there should be a little more embroidery, suggesting  the lower right-hand corner.

I was inclined to agree.  While not ideal, it was possible to embroider through the layers of bag and lining, so I did. It won't hurt to hold the two layers of linen together there near the base.

It's a definite improvement. I'm now pretty satisfied with this one. 

I have no specific purpose in mind. No one I know needs another Ink and Spindle tote - but I'll add it to my stock, which will find a good home one day.