how to be early and late in one shot

last week's TAST and this week's. both funners especially the stitch with 4 names that comes out like a line of little ducklings :) i also used some raised chain stitch with it and i think with a less bulky thread it could look good. seems that raised chain stitch has become a favorite of many people including myself.

on another note i'm on an extended bad hair day-literally. my hopes of turning from witch to princess via a haircut bombed  right in the middle and i was turned into a toad.  i ended up with what is called a  granny haircut. hate it and following  murphy's law this time it will take forever to grow back.

neki desu

mega catch up

TAST catch up

here's a month's worth-give or take- of TAST stitches.did not experiment too much with each stitch as time has not been on my side. however the individual raised chain stitches come from an idea found at quieter moments the blog of the greatly missed Elisabeth Marshall.

i am using it as a single stitch on a project and really like the texture it creates.i t's my kind of stitch, simple and effective.

on the left there is a meager attempt at week 34 stitch. i was doing more de-stitching than stitching therefore  it will have to wait till better times. put it down to mull like i did with bullion stitch. and now bullion and i are friends :)

on another note, just found the new-to me- caption application.DUH!

neki desu

TAST-siennese stitch

is it because of their italian resonance and the memories they bring? i seem to really enjoy those italian stitches. 

here'sTAST week 24. i did my best not to fall for the literal and work the stitch in sienna colors :)
i worked with dmc embroidery 6strand cotton floss. most of the sample  was worked with 2 strands, but the slightly skewed stitches were worked with the whole 6 strands.
while at the dmc page i discovered a new to me thread  which sounds promising. has anyone out there tried it?

on another note can someone please tell me how to delete the dumb bullets (dots) in my blogroll and sidebar? looked at the widgets and did not see it.looked in the html innards and ditto. i really can't stand them so please, please tell.

neki desu

slipped detached chain

 this stitch  with a rock band name was TAST week 21.a simple yet effective one. i can envision whole fields of buds done in this stitch, or a very elaborate band with beads and couching.
i'm using some of the tie threads  for the ai dyed shibories. they are the fatter #5 perle cotton , the teal ones are from a knitted sample that was also dunk in the vat.

it's cooled off today.FINALLY. better run to the studio and do some work today. machine knitting  while i can. ♪♫

neki desu

 

TAST up and down fly stitch

although this TAST stitch is fun i didn't manage to get many variations and ended up adding a bit of cloud filling at the bottom as the only experiment .

probably my lack of inspiration was due to a) the heat and b) an emotional exhausting weekend. saturday was very emotional as i went with husband-san to the demo. he had been to the first one  in 77 demanding the estatut and thought there would not be a need for another demo ever, after cataluya was granted the estatut.

then on sunday the world cup's final. what can i say about that ?
longing for cooler weather in all senses.


neki desu

wave stitch

my TAST for week 18.it was a nice fun stitch, but i wasn't terribly inspired and these were the best variations i could come up with.i guess i could have added something to the spaces in the honeycomb, but that occurred to me a posteriori when i was cropping the photo.

the lower middle one is cotton perle which was used for some indigo dyed shibori. nice bonus!

neki desu
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really this and that

a perfect day yesterday. beautiful weather and being a holiday it could be enjoyed. great relaxing breakfast at a lovely art deco caf around the corner from my place where you can still have the perfect petit crême and butter croissants along with the morning papers. some time to practice the sword stitch and actually finish this week's TAST.  i'm early!! for a change.

dinner at a restaurant we've been trying to get a table from time  immemorial , lucking  out yesterday.

good food, better wine and best; nice and quiet, as everyone is away at the beach for the 4 day weekend of st. john, sao joao, san juan, san giovanni, sant joan, one of the biggies.

and today i find that flickr is making changes. the sucker that i am was instantly wooed with the take me to the future link. i mean who wouldn't want that? the only caveat is that photos being bigger now are easier to nick even if you have all kinds of restrictions.we'll see how it goes, in the meantime i'm in the future :)

 neki desu
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catch up if i may

TAST weeks 13, 14 and 16.skipping 15 as i tried it before with no luck. its time will come as with bullion stitch.one can't neither hurry love♫♫☺  nor force things to happen.
not too creative with this stitching. blame it on the weather.although some sunny spots today, but still 20ºC!
the buttonhole herringbone is sloppy .i found that if the foundation herringbone's not firm it turns into a wet herring and the buttonhole stitch twists. live and learn.


neki desu
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sorbello, mezzo sorbello, e la luna

on a stitching roll.a fine weather weekend full of energy which was transformed into great stitching time. this week's TAST was sorbello. my kind of stitch, easy effective and tons of fun. also great departure from the weaving intensity of lately.

thinking about those italian ladies sitting at their doors in their village  at the doppo pomeriggio chatting and stitching, amicably competing in their needle dexterity. let myself be carried away and i think i might have  even invented something, second third and fourth rows on the right of the photo. i even did a photo tute as i got so excited about it. ya'll let me know and i'll post it.

speaking of tutes, while i was going through my stitching reverie i thought about giving  the last  go to boullion knots, one of my pet peeve stitches.located  mary corbett of needle and thread and her great video tute  on bullions. 

found a milliner's needle, sat at the computer and followed it and wow! they came out looking like the video!! no more hating bullions  my friends :). in fact i foresee a bullion overkill in the next few weeks.

neki desu
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what do we fill clouds with?

TAST  week 10 was one of those where one has to draw the line,i could be still stitching had i not.

 cloud filling is fun, effective,and with lots of possible variations.i used a stiff ribbon and left it  somewhat lose to create a ruffly effect and then added some sparkly seed beads. in all it came out as a pretty dressy effect.

another cool idea would be to use detached chain stitch or lazy daisy in the negative spaces, or create checkerboards  varying the orientation.variations in the length of the alternate row can also create some interesting effects and buttons can be used in the spaces.chainstitch can also.....as you see one has to draw the line :)

neki desu

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fancy hem stitch

can a scanner be out of focus?i'm pressed for time so i scanned the long overdue TAST week 8. and it came out of focus! pretty plain photo, no time for playing with it :(

i want to go back to  fancy hem stitch because i really enjoyed it and think there's a lot more that can be done.but for now mes amies, this is all i can offer. the web page has really taken its toll in time. there's a fix yet to be done, but it will have to wait. and still have to finish table runner 2. for tomorrow! and here i am fully switched on procrastination mode.

neki desu
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some stitching and TAST

 i was doing some stitching for the TAST over the weekend. problems with the deceivingly simple portuguese border stitch so i cut it out.  will go back to it because i liked the stitch, seems that as with basque stitch the problem is with the iberian peninsula :)
skipped the bullion family stitch  without even trying because from the other TAST my bullions were pathetic. however, i was having a great time stitching the knotted buttonhole stitch and feeling quite accomplished for my stitching abilities( need i clarify they are almost zero?) . stitching is very mind freeing, while your hands are moving the mind can go places.

i remembered i had kept a butt ugly piece from when i started stitching 3 years ago (already??) the fabric was kind of cool, a sample from my resist explorations that i had stitched and added some ribbon. it was so ugly that when i showed  it to a friend she was left speechless, afraid to offend me with a comment. LOL!

i dug it out from the bottomless drawer and took out the ribbons. then the stitching took off in a jolly sort of way.i wasn't creating anything special, just enjoying the stitching, adding some beads here, some more seed stitches there. you know the scenario.

all in all it was a pleasant late sunday afternoon. some sound thinking was done and i'm almost there with TAST.


 here's the before.

the after was rotated and stitched. furthermore the stamping block was rubbed with a gold paint stick. if you click on the image it will take you to a bigger photo at flickr. apologies for the photos, we have a foggy morn in barcelona. the smoke cloud perhaps?

 neki desu


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tast and weaving

 multitasking again.this week's TAST was fun and easy and there's much more that one can do with it than what i made with my sample.the name is complicated 3 Beaded Hedebo Edge, but the execution was a breeze.

 

here's my excuse for not stitching very much.

 what? a boring plain weave?? or as a friend calls it with great irony very open weave tabby. it's that wonderful merino yarn again  which really doesn't need very much. just let it speak for itself ; note the sweet fuzz in front of the shuttle.

the kick will come in the post production. all i'm saying for now is that fortuny got me thinking :)

back to the loom.





 neki desu

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knotted loop stitch

as you can see at the top i was having problems here.missing more than a line of instruction to be  able to complete the stitch.  i asked Jowynn and she kindly sent me a drawing with the sequence.after that it all made sense.i don't know if i stitched it the way it's supposed to be done, in fact i don't know if the outcome is what the stitch is supposed to look like .but that's  my own fault and no one else's.

the individual blocks at the right were an attempt at a checkerboard effect.it's a doable, but i was already running late.will give it a go some other time.speaking of which i have to knot 600 warp ends to a dummy warp.i better get going.

neki desu


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twisted satin stitch- TAST 42

Tast 42. This was a deceivingly easy stitch. At first it was more complicated than what it seemed and i wasn't getting it right. Then all of a sudden it all made sense and i started having fun with it. i like the texture it creates and think it would work well for filling large areas. Where satin stitch sags this one soars! :)
It also looks good used for couching ribbons and you can create pretty cool checkerboards.
Check out Elisabeth's variations for a real joy ride.

i used DMC # 10 perle cotton and spun silk and had to use cotton thread for the seed beads and added some sequins too. This could be a border by itself.
Also changed foundation fabric from linen to Aida. i don't know whether it's Aida in general or this particular one but it's not very firm and gets distorted by tension. i'll have to get used to it.

neki desu

reversed buttonhole bar

TAST week 40 finds me uploading week 39. There's an excuse for this and it is that i'm obsessed with the indigo vat trying to exhaust it before the cold weather sets in and so get on with life.

i thought blahh! buttonhole again, but on the contrary it was quite fun to sample.
i don't know whether i "discovered" it or it's common knowledge, but you can get paisleys with this stitch. Got carried away and did some,very plain mind you, beading. Avoided paisley o. d. ,keeping that for a whole project.
i used size 10 white cotton crochet thread, rayon floss and DMC variegated embroidery cotton on beige linen. This is the last of it and i'm contemplating using Aida for a change. Not sure yet.

neki desu

buttonhole band

This week finds me uploading last week's TAST and without the benefit of Elisabeth of Quieter Moments who fuels my imagination.As a result this sample is very plain, almost verging on the boring.
Presently i'm getting my kicks from indigo dyeing which is going so well it has me walking around with a silly grin. Husband is another chapter in the story, he's ready to file for divorce because of the smell which is no big deal, just the characteristic indigo vat smell.

i used DMc embroidery ,spun silk for texture and silk doupioni dyed by myself.
For the ladders i used perle cotton recycled from a shibori dyeing session. Sometimes i keep the yarns i use for arashi shibori as i like the results and it is also instant gratification for being frugal.

i think there are possibilities with the diamond shapes but need to be worked better.
And there's also a lot of play with curved ladders. i have to get back to this stitch during a winter night.

neki desu

rice stitch- TAST 37

i seem to enjoy a lot more the straightforward,simple TAST stitches.They are a lot of fun to work and one can let go and expand them creating varieties.It's almost like doodling with thread.

Wool thrums from a woven project, silk cordonnet, spun silk, silk noil and perle cotton on linen.The bottom area looks like falling sakura blossoms during hanami. Should explore that further.


neki desu

cable chain stitch

Tast week 36! This stitch was a definite funner. can't say the same of the previous one. As i was all thumbs doing it i turned the page and went on to the next stitch.

Assorted cotton threads, heavy rayon, hand dyed silk noil and spun silk on linen.


neki desu

TAST32-34 crested chain stitch, Portugese stem stitch and scroll stitch

Catching up with TAST. By the way SharonB has moved to here ,guess it was the spam that prompted the move, oi?

Being such a Lusophile silly me thought that i was going to have a ball with the Portuguese stitch, but no the real winner was scroll stitch. i could have done it forever.
i'll get to the Portuguese stem stitch bear with me.

During the holidays we visited the Collin Barracks in Dublin where an impressive decorative arts museum is housed . Oh yes, that's where we were for the holidays, Dublin.

At the Barracks there was an awesome exhibit called The Way We Wear showing great dresses from the 17 hundreds on. Some of the dresses took the term embellish to a new dimension, so richly decorated with embroidery beads and metallic threads they were.
The fabrics alone were worth a whole chapter and the sewing details were intriguing and exquisitely carried out by hand.It was like the cliché phrase- oh that flower's so perfect it looks like plastic! You could clearly see how the industrial revolution changed fashion and workmanship and things have never been the same ever since, well with the exception of Balenciaga and a couple of other divine fools.

Shape and volume were created not only by crinolines and wiring but also by adding different sets of folds, pleats and tucks to the fabric without cutting it.

It wsa a pity not to find tha catalog in the bookshop. But i found a nice little book called Beginer's guide to Mountmellick embroidery. And coincidentally one of the stitches is Portuguese knotted stem stitch. Check out Search Press for this and other needle craft books.

neki desu