A sense of achievement

WARNING - THIS POST HAS LOTS OF PHOTOS!

I feel quite a sense of achievement! I’ve finally caught up on all the stitching on my huswif. AND this includes the stitching on the alphabet bands which I omitted and had to invent something to fill. I’m really pleased with the end result.

The bands I added came from a combination of browsing on the internet and flicking through a couple of books, the Proper Stitch by Darlene O'Steen and the Embroidery Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden. I just picked out a few stitches or designs/ideas I liked and had a go.

Band C - should have held the first part of the alphabet. I've stitched instead some Celtic knotwork, the design for which I found somethere on the web and adapted to fit this band. It's stitched with the Hazelnut thread.

Band G - second part of the alphabet. This is a Rice Stitch variation from the Proper Stitch which I've stitched in a combination of French Artichoke and Light French Artichoke. In between each diamond, there are a couple of smaller rice stitches in Burnished Gold.

Band J - This one I'm really pleased with - I love the Interlaced Herringbone! And I'm so chuffed that I finally got it right this time, thanks to Darlene O'Steen's instructions. The herringbone is stitched in French Artichoke with the interlacing in Light French Artichoke.

Band L - this is a lattice stitch stitched on a diagonal with the long stitches of the lattice in French Artichoke and tie-down crosses mainly in Verdigris with some also in French Artichoke.

Band P - this one is a bit of a mixture as I changed my plans for this band at the last minute. There are three rows of Smyrna Crosses with the bottom 'normal' diagonal cross stitched in Verdigris and the upper upright crosses stitched in Burnished Gold. Below that is a row of hearts in French Artichoke and/or Light French Artichoke stitched using different techniques, the inspiration for which came from a Drawn Thread freebie, Heart Throb.

I may still add a few beads to my custom bands, but for now, the end result looks like this!


You may notice that I also changed the colours used in one or two places as I went through a phase of hating the colour of the Hazelnut thread.

I've heard that some stitchers have been running out of thread on this design. I've come fairly close to it myself, mainly with the Burnished Gold and the French Artichoke. I would have liked to use the Verdigris more. The only frustrating point is that I broke my gold needle!

Now I just have to add the fasteners for the huswif, and then I'm ready for the final part next month.