Magnifiers for all occasions!

I now own a magnifier that you wear on your head rather like a miner's lamp - a birthday present to help increase the space between the holes in the linen.  My dermatologist uses  similar eyewear to remove extraneous bits from my legs so the idea is good.

This is the latest addition to my collection - there is a lens with a lamp downstairs as well as a separate lens that I use with a daylight lamp upstairs.  This new device will be perfect to carry  for meetings as it is fairly light and portable.

So a case is wanted and the right piece of weaving is maturing in the cupboard - some Turned Taquete that I had produced in 2005 (was it really that long ago?). Also some pale green lawn that I had made in a marbling class way back in the 90's - almost vintage! - good lining.  Well this quick job took me quite a few hours but I am really happy with the result

Sunday Post

It would appear  that it takes me until Sunday to write a blog post -I  had even worked my psychedelic chevron by Tuesday evening and the other piece of chevron was finished by Thursday morning but life got in the way - a habit it seems to have.


Anyway, here it is - the Anchor #8 that I couldn't resist buying seemed perfect for the exercise.

 

I love this stitch as well as Half Chevron. I made a number of samples when I did Sharon's PLOS class in 2007 and also used it for a biscornu .  This exercise was a refresher - while I love chevron my use for it has been limited so now how I could include it in my work. Maybe add a diagonal version

Could anyone resist this 'stained glass' ball of thread? Its only drawback for me is that the sections of colour are very small and difficult to deal with.  Maybe chevron is the answer - but single or double ?

This had all been nice and uncomplicated - even my eyes were happy with the Aida spacing - what would be the effect on linen as a background .  My only use for Aida seems to be biscornu.

Don't you love the contrast between the two? I did think of using a dark thread but that was not the effect I was chasing.

This perle is #12 while the Anchor variegated was #8 and the fabric is 32 count linen.

I am not sure whether I might find a use for this or not.  However this week's TAST was fun.

Herringbone

Week 5 TAST  2012 - and I was fighting a nasty chest infection (much better now, thank goodness) when Sharon Boggon announced that herringbone was the stitch on Tuesday. I breathed a sigh of relief - during Sharon's PLOS class in 2007 I tried a number of variations on herringbone stitch, followed by this biscornu and needlecase . (Also the flowers are double fly stitch with a french knot)

The border is tied herringbone.

What could I do this time?  Barbara Snook has suggested herringbone to replace hemstitching on the inside of a drawn thread hem - would this be sufficiently secure?  Not stitching I spent some time thinking about it and decided it probably could - yes it makes a good finish - in fact I might use it for Runner 2, especially if I use linen.

 Not a brilliant photo. However definitely another for my Hems and Edges folder. A variegated perle # 8 was the thread used.  I normally use #12 for hemstitching (which I did on the hem side)

This is another linen doodle cloth .  I also tried shadow work  - probably not something I would try often.  However the final exercise so far was triangle stitch in the middle.  Moyra McNeill  has a section on double back stitch pulled thread stitches and this is one of my favourites. It gives a quite delicate effect.  I wish I had had more time to dip further in the intricacies of herringbone but I will stop there .

A Final Insertion Exercise.

Well definitely the last insertion stitching on the agenda .  This has been a fun exercise but I have run out of options that fit in with TAST for the moment. 

This one is Plaited Insertion - each stitch is not cretan but enough of them  are  for me to include it in my TAST.  Mary Thomas says to leave at least 3/4 inch between the hems and use a firm thick thread.  I did leave the 3/4 " but am not sure what would happen if I unpicked the tacking - a really floppy join, I imagine.  The insertions are all still on the A4 paper to make it easier to store together in a folder. (My folder Hems and Edges has grown nicely in the last couple of weeks.) 

The thread is a painted cotton weaving yarn and somewhere between a#8 and #5 perle cotton in size. Aida was the fabric.

On a Roll!

Well, this is almost the end of my insertion investigation - I have one more buttonhole and one more cretan to try and then I am ready for whatever comes on Tuesday.As I said in a previous post this has been fun and I hope whatever the enw stitch is it will offer just as much joy.

My cretan explorations to date

Cretan Insertion or Open Cretan Insertion

Knotted Cretan Insertion

Twisted Cretan insertion

Half Cretan Insertion

 This was the order in which I tried the various techniques.  Amazingly the twisted was the most difficult in which to maintain the right tension.

I also had some trouble in keeping the distance from the edge even - however it is not impossible for me

When the experts differ!

Anyone out there help me?  I have done what I thought was some Open Cretan Insertion but then Betty Barnden calls it Herringbone Insertion    What do you think?  Definitely the cretan stitch and is herringbone all that different?
.

I hemmed some linen scraps for the trial and have used DMC Perle #8 - it is a variegated thread - not at all obvious in this photo.

Laced Knotted Buttonhole

Another interesting buttonhole insertion and definitely one I will use again. Yes, the end of the week is fast approaching and I haven't even stitched the basic cretan stitch for TAST for this week but that is on the agenda for today.  These TASTers are not the only handwork I try to get through each day
However I am building up quite a nice collection of ideas.

Well, I used my fancy spacer for this one but it might have been easier to have done the buttonhole stitches on each edge before attaching to the paper - next time! 

 The stitch is well illustrated in Effie Mitrofanis' book on  Casalguidi but the original inspiration came from Barbara Snook. Her Embroidery Stitches is worth a look if you can find one.(Second hand shops as well as the internet  have produced some real treasures). 

I used Finca Perle #8 for both threads - and the option to use a different coloured thread and, possibly, a different thickness thread for the lacing is available.

Knotted buttonhole was a new version for me. Knowing the correct tension was difficult in the beginning. However I really enjoyed this one.

  I have one more buttonhole insertion that to try and then comes Cretan. I am  sure that a week between stitches is not enough but is it just a case of  "How long is a piece of string?"