In the Beginning.....

Way back mid2007, there was a weaver who couldn't. To satisfy her yearnings she roamed the web looking at any reference to textiles.  The ancronym, "TAST" kept appearing on blogs with very little extra information.  Nonetheless, Google turned up Sharon Boggon's blog In a Minute Ago  ( a treat in itself) and, I think , her first Take A Stitch Tuesday series.   That seahorse on the same page  looked gorgeous -and ever the optimist, that weaver thought maybe, despite her lack of skill and experience, she could learn how to do something like that.   Sharon was to give a class, Sumptuous Surfaces.   ( The weaver is now a weaver who doesn't!  (but one day might!))

Of course I enrolled - but in the meantime there was  TAST.  I can not remember what the stitch that week was but it was definitely way out of my scope.  So back to the list to find something possible - Running Stitch.

The effort this piece took!  Oh dear, how was I ever going to manage to cope with Sumptuous Surfaces? Not many running stitches in that seahorse - but I was committed. The rest is history -   Sharon was very patient and a whole new world opened to me. This is where it all started   - my contribution to this week's TAST

  PS That seahorse is still on the to-do list!

Sprig muslim....?

 When TAST 2012 began I thought this might be an opportunity  to combine each month's allocated stitches in a carefully designed piece.  Easier said than done!  In fact I am still trying to decide what I want to stitch with the first 5 stitches for the year..

However February's stitches seemed easier to use- a biscornu seemed a logical shape for the chevron and chain stitches.  I already had stitched buttonhole and back stitch edging on both sides. The dark blue-green=yellow variegated Anchor #8 was darker than I wanted but the edge was already done and I decided that maybe it added to the design challenge

 .  After much deliberation I thought I could get something delicate looking with a pale pink contrast.  However it was like looking for Jane Austen and finding Emily Bronte on the bookshelf - the former, delicate like sprig muslim and the other, a tad dark, heavier and gloomy!

Nonetheless I persevered and used chevron and lazy daisy on one side.

  Then more chevron with zigzag petal stitch on the reverse.  This side used crossed chain with the whipping stitch couching a thicker apple green thread for a border..

 As well as couching this thread along two chain rows I used three detached chain to couch the thicker thread in each corner ( not as obvious in the photo as I would wish).  This is my only couching for the week's TAST stitching.

I am satisfied to a limited extent - I did manage to produce a finished piece using the month's stitches and, while I am not completely happy with my colour choices, I feel they are reasonably acceptable.

Now to get back to the design board and the 5 January stitches!