TAST 2010 - WEEKS 38 - 44

Week 38 - Picot Chain Stitch

This is as much as I got done in the assigned week.  I kept thinking I would add something else or take something out, but I never got around to it, and now I don't remember clearly what I was trying to do.  I can see I worked a spiral, worked the chain with picots on either side, and worked the chain zigzag.

Weeks 39 and 40 - Buttonhole Picots

The background cloth is another piece of tea dyed dish towel.  The Watercolour shows up a little better than the Wildflower thread, but there's not much to see.  Sadly I didn't put a lot of time or thought into this assignment.  It was Thanksgiving week and I was juggling two overlapping online classes.  The picots are lost in the terry loops, and because they're placed randomly along the irregular lines, they're hard to spot anyway and not worth the effort IMHO.  I'll simply say the upward spikes have bullion picots and downward the chains. 

Weeks 41 - 44:  Checkered/Magic Chain, Woven Cross,

and Crossed and Plaited Feather Stitch

Magic Chain:  3 rows of chain just under TAST '10.

Woven Cross:  above and below the single line of beads.  I considered weaving the lettering which I added later, but ran out of time and steam.

Crossed Feather Stitch:  the top row, worked in Wildflowers.

Plaited Feather:  bottom rows.  If you look at the tangled center, you can maybe see I worked the plaited version between 2 rows of straight-sided feather stitch.

Even though my work was lackluster toward the end, I feel a sense of accomplishment for having completed the challenge and extreme gratitude to Sharon B for leading us through this wonderful learning adventure.  Tuesdays will not be the same without a new stitch to look forward to.  I'm thinking I might pick up the ones I missed in the original TAST challenge, and after that I'll probably tackle the Stitch Files.

You can view all of my TAST 2010 work here and original TAST here.

You can also view the photo pool for all TAST '10 participants here.

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TAST 2010 - TURKMAN STITCH

TAKE A STITCH TUESDAY - WEEK 36 - TURKMAN STITCH

Sharon B was right in us this is an easy stitch and an attractive border as is.  However, I couldn't think of much else to do with it other than vary the stitch horizontally or vertically.  Here's what I did left to right:

1.  This looks like the traditional stitch and starts out that way, but if you look closely you'll see that after the first two stitches I lengthened the next two by one thread, then go back to the original and alternate from there.  I like this effect, gives a texture of crackle and looks somehow lacier.

2.  Started off normal, then a little zig-zag, then back to normal until I veer off to the left by changing the position of the first stitch.  You can see where I began the righthand diversion; the first stitch begins to the left of the last stitch in the upper, single column and covers the gap left by the top of the left branch.

The right branch experiments with horizontal variations.  I might have avoided the "nubs" if I had made the changes more gradual and by paying closer attention to the tension.

3.  Exactly like #1

4.  Upper portion of this column is worked evenly but more open.  Below I worked two side by side rows.

5.  Didn't want you to think the squiggles in Column 2 were mistakes.  Here's an entire column done zigzag style with random stitch length variation.

6.  The final column show a gradation in stitch length.

I don't particularly care for this stitch on its side, but I think vertically it doesn't make much difference upside down. 

See what other TAST'ers are doing on our Flickr site.

TAST 2010 - SPIKED KNOTTED CABLE CHAIN

 TAKE A STITCH TUESDAY - WEEK 35

Sharon B describes this as a kind of combination of twisted chain and oyster stitch.  It's easy enough to work once you get the hang of it and remember to point and wrap your needle in the right direction.  For this sampler I used single strands of Caron's Watercolours and Wildflower.  This stitch could be worked in tidy little knots, but I tend to form it loose and plump for the texture.  I didn't do much in the range of variation other than alternate spikes and curved & straight lines. 

Originally I was working on a geometric pattern, but at some point I glanced down and saw a tree.  To convince the viewer it is a tree I added some grass, and here's when I came up with another variation.  The final portion of the stitch is worked like buttonhole, so it was easy to add more spikes which I liked a lot.  The lowermost grass is two overlapping rows.

There is one more thing I want to do with this stitch.  I will attempt it later this week, time permitting.

TAST 2010 - RAISED CLOSED HERRINGBONE

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Week 31

Let's hear it for the threads!  I started in the center with the heaviest of the threads.  It is a #3 perle hand dyed in ametrine hues by Jane Van Keulen, a talented New Zealand artist.  The final round of tiny leaves and sprigs is hers also, a rayon floss I used double stranded.  It has spectacular sheen and variations of russet.  The four large coral-orange leaves were made with a single strand of  Caron's Watercolours.  They are followed with smaller leaves

stitched with a single strand of Stef Francis silk perle.  Finally the border uses 2 strands of Caron's Waterlilies and #11 seed beads.  The background is Belfast linen.

I was going for a medaillon effect so I found the center of the fabric and basted lines that would divide the work into eights and used those lines to center the leaves.  I was able to alter the shape of the leaves by varying the foundation stitches.  For example, the two foundation stitches for the largest leaves are the same length, but the reddish ones have a shorter upper stitch.  I realized if I began that upper stitch a little off kilter , I could get a slight curve for my leaf tips.

Although my design is symmetrically based, I tried to bring as much variety as I could.  I'm well pleased with the different colors and textures and wholeheartedly give credit to the threads!  Precision is for charted patterns.  I wanted my leaves, while "posed", to still suggest naturalness, and when imperfect stitches occurred I pretty much let them stay.

Don't forget to see what other participants are doing over on Flickr.

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