Stash enhancement question

This is the one that calls to me!

They are lovely!

I know - isn't it just gorgeous? I love the colors. . .

I've done Rosemarkie...It's not too hard. Lots of room for creativity. I"m doing Pompeii now and it's lovely, but a LOT more difficult than I'm used to.

lewmew wrote: On the Chatelaine, is

The patterns aren't terribly expensive, but the materials are super expensive. I can't afford to throw down $300 for the kit, so I buy bit by bit, knowing that I'm paying more in the long run. I've don 2 parts out of 12 on Pompeii and it's gorgeous though. VERY intricate.

On Pompeji - is it all XS or are there other stitches as well

There's also rhodes stitches.

Interesting - here I think the patterns are expensive, but the materials are what they are, pretty normal.

We carry the Long Dog Samplers in the shop, and they look complicated, but most of our stitchers thing they're not difficult at all. Just lots of cross stitch for the most part. They do get a big bang for the buck of stitching - so to speak - and are beautiful when done.

If you want me to take a look at some of the charts, I will - to see if there are any other stitches in them.

Ellice

Well, there are an awful lot of materials in it (i.e., you have to buy a bunch of materials, even if the individual items aren't through the roof expensive), and they do tend to use a lot of silks and such. So, the end result is that you're looking at a hefty chunk of change to put all the materials together. On top of that, some of the materials may be more expensive elsewhere, and then you have something quite pricey. (I'm speaking of the Chatelaine pieces, not the Long Dog.)

Best wishes, Ericka

I was just looking at

last night, which sellskits of materials for the Chatelaine Designs and the chartpacks.Pompeji is one of the more expensive ones, I think, at $293 for thewhole kit. Here's what it includes, though:Kit includes:45 skeins Needlepoint Inc Silk (NPI)4 skeins TG Silk n'Colors3 skeins TG Silk Perle1 skein Dinky-Dyes Silk8 skeins Waterlilies4 skeins Gloriana Silk14 cards RG Petite Treasure Braid10 colors Delica beadsSwarovski Bicones and Cubes24" x 27" Cream Belfast The NPI silks are $123 of that. I found this conversion chart to DMC, though, if anyone wants to go that route. It needs to be resorted as the NPI numbers are out of order: Might also be helpful if you want to convert to another kind ofsilk. I've been drooling on Alhambra Garden, myself, and that kits up for $77 with everything. Not cheap, but a bit more reasonable.

Allura

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Using DMC instead of NPI works very nicely. I did it on the Japanese Octagon Box and I would challenge almost anyone to see the difference. The specialty fibers are used on the more elaborate stitchery and are so gorgeous that the basic work in DMC is quite acceptable. When I bought the Box, I believe Martina offered her suggestions for substitutions, so you might want to check and see if she has done this for Pompeji. Whatever you do, you will find Martina's designs meticulously beautiful, and if there is an internet group (mine was Yahoo) do sign up for that. Enjoy!

Felice

But the question is, how much overlap is there between Chart A and Chart B from the same designer? Can you use up your leftovers to cut the cost of kitting the second one?

The first MLI I kitted up got to be pretty expensive, but she uses a lot of the same colors repeatedly, so, for example, those six skeins of skin tones didn't have to be re-purchased for the next half-dozen charts. And while I couldn't fit an MLI on a 15x18 chunk of CharlesCraft, and had to buy a fat half (which produced substantial leftover), I think I worked out that I could get 6 out of a full yard (which is a lot cheaper than 6 fat halfs).

Well, many of them are big pieces and flat out use a lot of materials (sometimes multiple skeins of a single color). There is some overlap, but not so much that I think it offsets much. And if you do her designs as specified, she just does use expensive materials (not that there aren't substitutions available).

Best wishes, Ericka

Exactly. The patterns are published in 12 parts. I just bought the materials for the first part and the fabric and spend a little over $100. The fabric is a sugar maple hand dyed (pumpkin patch) and I bought the recommended silks. (This is for Tuscan town mandala...for the Pompeii mandala I'm doing, I subbed the DMC fibers.)

. Might also be helpful if you want to convert to another kind of> silk.>

The designer includes conversions of all the threads to DMC on her pattern instructions also.

I think I worked

That's good to know!

. Might also be helpful if you want to convert to another kind of>silk.>

I've done 2 large Chatelaines, Alhambra and Weeping Williow Keep. European Cross Stitch is a dream to work with. The fibers come in floss away bags on a ring and the beads come in their own little tubes. The big crystals are counted but the regular delicas are by weight and I've had lots extra. My strategy to keep costs reasonable are to use my own fabric. Using Lugana instead of Belfast, for example, really helps. And I buy the fiber kits without the NPI and use my own DMC. That really helps too. There's a very friendly helpful BB on Yuku that will cheerfully enable you into bankruptsy :-). I have found them a pleasure to stitch and the finished projects are amazing. Righ now I'm lusting after Watergarden and waiting for Medeival Town Mandala to come out in chartpack. Let me know if you want any more details about Alhambra.

Sara

Could you provide a link? I need more enabling! :)

Allura

Yes, yes!

Cheryl

Here it is: