Crochet catch-up with a Big Finish

This isn't exactly what I'd been planning to blog about, but I haven't got round to making the notes about what I wanted to say. And this post means I can keep blogger up to day with the stuff I've been posting on Flickr.

Towards the end of last year I started crocheting lacy motifs for a project. That project then changed and evolved so that many of the motifs weren't needed in the end. So I've been using the motifs for other things.

Such as birthday cards -



Then there's the dreamcatcher mobile-type thingy -




And the big finish? Well, here's Starflake from Patricia Ann Designs - stitching finished so long ago that I don't have a pic of it on Flickr.


According to Photobucket, it was finished on 25 Oct 2007 and it's been lying around ever since waiting for the inspiration to hit and for me to decide how to finish it off. At varoius points it might have been a pillow, a biscornu or a box top, but none of them seemed quite right.

However, as of the end of last week, it now looks like this!


I'm really pleased, not just because it looks nice, but because I've combined crochet and stitching in a way I've been wanting to try for ages. I think I'll be using variations on this kind of finishing again!

Hot off the hoop!

.... it's Starflake - finished at lunchtime today. I brought my camera with me to work as the light isn't so good by the time I get home.

Don't look too closely - you'll see all the 'deliberate' mistakes I've included to 'personalise' the design. LOL. For starters, the fabric isn't right. It's the right sort of colour but it's an evenweave rather than linen and it's too high a count. End result is that some of the stitches don't pull so well, particularly the four sided stitch, and the beads can be a bit crowded. You might also spot the fluffy bit where I accidentally cut one of the fabric threads as I was trying to unpick a particularly knotty eyelet.

However, I did enjoy stitching it, and I do love the colour combination. I am slightly disappointed that you don't really get the benefit of the Waterlilies thread used in the centre and elsewhere, but I'm already considering stitching it again 'properly' at some point, that is, on a better fabric, so that I can see properly how the four sided stitches are supposed to work!

I'm also thinking of finishing this one as a tuck pillow and have been eyeing up various possible finishing methods via Focus on Finishing. But I do need a bit of inspiration for some fabric. Maybe I'll get a chance to do a bit of browsing at the weekend.


And for a bit of fun, as I have my camera at work, here's a photo of my desk - it looks strangely tidy for me!

May Achievements

I have a new plan (stitching and life!) which I'm starting in June, so to round up my pre-plan achievements, here's what I've been up to in May.

1. Part 3 of St Petersburg completed - see here.

2. 5 more blocks on Nova - row A completed and a good start made to row B.












3. Good progress made on Starflake, although I put away again on Friday as I'd had enough of the Smyrna crossed and pulling eyelets! However, I am really pleased with my week's progress.



4. Started Bent Creek's Red Thread series with the Snowman.

5. Completed one gift for my son's teachers - details here.

Wow - I hadn't realised just how much I'd done in May!

Finally, I thought I'd share the photo I'm looking at on my desk calendar at work this month.

This is The Isle of Jura, Sound of Corryvreckan from Scarba, Argyll by Colin Prior, a wonderful photographer of Scotland and wild places of the world.
             

Silk threads and St Pete

So the frogs have been banished and I've finished part 3 of St Petersburg!

I really loved stitching this part, despite the frogs, it's such a contrast from the dense stitching of the first two parts. And I love the backstitched gates.

I find it interesting while I'm stitching to compare the silks and the DMCs and the varigated/solid colours. On only one of the four sides in part 3 have I used varigated colours in stitching the vegetation. And it happens that on that side I particularly like the way the vegetation looks with just that little bit more variation in colour.

The is probably the first design where I've used varigated threads to any significant extent and up to now, I was slightly sceptical of their value. Now I'm starting to change my mind a bit. I like those variagted threads where there is significant colour change across the length of the thread. I still can't entirely get the point of threads where the colour variation is so subtle, you can hardly see the difference.

I've also been thinking about silk threads - what is the point in using silk thread? What does it add to your stitching? I'm still a long way from being a convert on this one and at this point, I really prefer DMCs. I know the sheen of silk is supposed to be more than cotton. But, after a piece is finished and framed, I'm not convinced that anybody will be able to tell the difference. I'm fairly certain that, even when I've stitched a piece using silks and cottons, I won't be able to see any difference. I know that some stitchers prefer the feel of silk for stitching, and I know that for designers, using silks can create a much greater palette of colours. But I'm not convinced of the value in this.

Sometimes too, it seems to me like there's a kind of snobbery in stitching - silk is "better" than cotton and linen is "better" than evenweave as evenweave is "better" than aida. I'm not convinced I like linen - give me evenweave any day!

Anyway, the important thing is for all stitchers to enjoy their stitching, whatever the materials they're using. And don't be afraid to mix and match or substitute fabric and fibres to meet your preference.


Anyway, having finished St Pete, I didn't particularly want to pick up anything big, so I've gone back to my Starflake from Patricia Ann Designs. I started this around my birthday in February but didn't get any further than the beginnings of the central motif. I've made good progress since Sunday, but it's slow work. I'd hoped I would get it finished by the end of this week, but it looks like that isn't going to happen. It's all eyelets and smyrna crosses which, although I love them, stitch up soooo slowly! And then I came downstairs this morning and on a quick look, noticed that a group of eyelets I stitched last night aren't centred within the motif! Aarghhh! And then there's that other group of lumpy eyelets from yesterday and I'm also tempted to frog .......