Cross Stitch Ramblings

21.8.04

Stitches & Samplers

I said in my last post that I want to learn how to do stem stitch & chain stitch. I explained why with the chain stitch but not stem stitch.

The main reason is simply because I can't remember how to do it, and I don't like not knowing. That is the reason I chose to do Apple Blossom Fairies above all of the other projects on the list, because it involves french knots and I have not mastered them. Its a challenge!

The other reason I want to do stem stitch is because of the Teddies picture. I have a book I bought years ago called Glorious Cross Stitch which features various designs including one which features several teddies sitting up against each other. Its not my usual type of project but I've always liked it. I believe once upon a time I may have even bought all the threads for it, but if I did they are now all incorporated into my boxes with all the other threads. The teddies is not currently on my project list but I may do it eventually. It features stem stitch instead of back stitch. I had though I would just do the outlining as back stitch but now I feel like doing it properly.

Although there are a lot of other lovely designs in the book there isn't anything I feel like doing. It features a lot of samplers, and I'm not sure I really like samplers. I'm a bit of a stickler for accuracy, and techncially a sampler is a piece where a young embroidress demonstrated all the different stitches she could do, often featuring alphabets and numbers. Very often these days samplers are collections of related objects. The book includes a teapot one and a fish one. They are nice but they don't inspire me. I don't feel much inclination do stitch samplers although having said that there is one on my project list - the castle sampler. But this one is special. Its a very ccomplicated design with blended colours and fractionals and is all in muted tones. Its basically a castle with a sampler border, featuring the aplhabet and numbers I think. The real appeal of it for me is the actual castle. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it.

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