More Stitching....

 

Small Progress....

You Might recall, Dear Readers, that I ambitiously started a couple of new petit-point embroidery projects a few weeks ago. Because it is Winter and I am indoors, I have managed to make some progress on them! I apologize in advance for any blurry photos... it is also unrelentingly dreary and dark, making it difficult to get good photos here in my dark old (under-lit) antique house. But you can see in the above picture that I started to add the blue background to the central section of this carpet. It is one of Janet Granger's kits, on 18 count canvas, stitched with wool thread. I do just love the way these wool carpets feel... and they look wonderful in the dollhouses too. The reason I have not made more progress on this one  (besides the now completed Christmas Card project) is that the frame is a bit too small for the 9" square pattern of the carpet. I have not made any progress solving that dilemma. So instead, I have focused on the Other large carpet I started, the Chinese blue and white carpet kit from Phyllis Stafford. And you might recall, I had decided I needed to design a better central motif for it, adding dragons of my own design.

I am not sure what I last showed you, 

but I have been working out the scale pattern for the

body of the dragon.

 

 

Because I am designing it myself,

 I mark up my chart for a small portion,

 then stitch it to see how it looks. 

Here is the chart ... so far! 

I am only drawing one half of the central design, 

I will flip it and stitch the other half in reverse.

Here you can see I have started the outline for the second dragon...

 they are chasing each other around the sun!

I needed to be sure the two are spaced correctly

 and don't infringe too closely on each other's space.... 

even one stitch differences can make a problem! 

And it is soooo easy to get off by only one stitch...

 (already happened on the dragon's tail...!)

Here I have added a little of the sky blue

 background for the central medallion... 

just to see how the dragon looks against it...

Here I have stitched the scale pattern a little farther.

 It is quite challenging at this thread count (40 stitches per inch),

 so I have to be sure to not try to stitch it at night!

As for the Baktiari Carpet kit, Dear Readers, 

I have nearly completed the main carpet.

 

The instructions say that if you want to add a fringe (which I do)

 then you must stitch another row of the garnet color

 on the top and bottom, plus a row of the fringe color,

 before you take it off the frame and bind the edges.

And that reminded me that I wanted to try

 to stitch a couple of "cushions"

 using the extra canvas at the right

 before I removed it from the frame.

So I made a start

.

I made a start....

 and I made a few mistakes!

(Sewing it at night.... 40 count canvas...)

I didn't plan ahead for the border pattern repeat...

But I figured it was too late to change it....

So I'm winging it!

 

The border doesn't repeat exactly....

 but I think it will work anyway.

And I realized I did not make the shape of the cushion square...

But that can be fixed for the next one....

'cause there must be more than one cushion!

 

And that's as far as I got, Dear Readers,

Lots of stitching.... 

and very Small progress!

Stitching.....

 

Updates... 

You May Recall, Dear Readers, that I had ambitiously started not one, but Two new petit-point carpet kits way back in the Fall. The first, another of Janet Granger's kits, a William Morris inspired carpet, is the one you see above. I had zoomed ahead on the embroidery for the central medallion because it was so easy and quick to stitch. This kit is on 18 count cloth with wool yarns. The finished carpet will be 9 inches square, which is a bit unusual for carpets. 

 

And here you can see I quickly expanded past the central medallion... 

and then I ran into a problem!

 my frame is not large enough to hold the entire width of the carpet! 

I will have to keep rolling up the side that needs to be embroidered.... or find a larger frame. I had bough a "package" of several sizes but the bars don't grip well in the cross pieces... it is obviously not well made! 

 The other carpet I had started, Dear Readers, 

was the much more complicated Chinese patterned carpet kit by Phyllis Stafford.

 It is 40 count silk gauze with cotton floss.

(I don't know why blogger is insisting on double spacing..... it is driving me crazy!)

I had decided to design a better central medallion for this one. 

I wanted dragons chasing each other around the central sun...

So I sketched a dragon and then charted it onto graph paper, 

being sure the stitches counted to forty per inch. 

The new central medallion will be about two inches across in an 8x10 inch carpet.

 

I also expanded the rays of the original circle to make them look like flames.

I worked the outline first in the navy blue...

Then started the lighter aqua blue to define scales....

and added gold for the body...

And more of the outlining....

Sorry for the dark pictures.... 

 it is that time of year 

and the weather has been glooooomy!

I am sort of designing it as I go...!

And I have to admit, 

I had to put these carpets on "hold"

 so I could work on The Christmas Card....

Which is coming along, but is a bit behind schedule!

So that is all I have done for the stitching, Dear Readers,

but I have high hopes for both these projects

 in the coming New Year!

(And I don't know why blogger 

reformed the minute I complained!?!)

 

I Hope you All have a Happy, 

Productive and Prosperous New Year!

Stitching.....

 

Updates....

The Seasons changed rather abruptly in this part of the World, Dear Readers, bringing a shocking taste of Winter the day after Halloween. This following after weeks of warmer than usual temperatures and virtually no hint of frost. Fortunately, the offending white stuff melted rapidly, but it left that keen awareness of Impending Winter!

It definitely hastened the falling of the remaining leaves....

and turned my focus to cozy indoor pursuits!

Like stitching mini carpets...

You can see from the first photo that I have

 nearly completed the Baktiari carpet!

All it requires is the last couple of rows 

of edge stitching and binding and then the fringe.

I have been working on it all year,

 but had to "stitch less" while my

 sore arm was mending last spring.

And since it is so nearly finished, 

I have launched a couple of new projects to take it's place!

This is the very beginning of a quite Ambitious project...

This is another kit by Phyllis Stafford,

 who also designed the Baktiari carpet kit.

It is also stitched on 40 count silk gauze

 and the finished size will be 8x10 inches.

I expect this to take me a long time to complete, 

and I will warn you now that I am 

re-designing the central portion of the kit.

I just feel that the "central medallion" 

needs to be much more prominent.

And because this is one of those "tiny stitches" kits,

I also started a larger, easier on the eyes carpet kit.

I thought it interesting how similar the start was for both carpets!

This is another of Janet Granger's kits, a wool carpet...

It is unusual in that it is square and will be 9x9 inches when done.

It is described as a William Morris era style and the colors are quite bright.

As you can see, I've made good progress already!

(Sorry the photo is dark.... it's been a cloudy day...)

 

So that is my Stitching Update, Dear Readers...

Two new engrossing petit-point carpets

means Hours of cozy stitching 

Are in the Forecast!