cross eyed with the counting

Who is to say what's right and wrong. If it looks right, is easier for you to do that way and comes out the way you want it to, IT'S RIGHT.

I say down with rules---

Lucille

I don't think there is a right, wrong way - just being sure your Xs cross the same direction, and thinking through so that as you move you're not trying to come up where you just went down.

I imagine most of us struggle at times - especially as we take on more challenging pieces. But, remember to try and relax and have fun.

For me, when an XS is being difficult - I will use 2 highlighters to mark the chart. One color to go over the symbols I'm about to stitch. Then when they're don't, I cover that with a 2nd highlighter so that way I can tell what has been stitched. Seems to help.

You might also think about putting in some grid lines on your piece if that helps. Some of those Vickery pieces have so much open space that it is hard to keep an accurate count. Gridding would help - doesn't take that long to do and eases counting on the fabric.

Lastly, if you have some marking pins for placeholders - that's helpful. And you might want to prethread some needles and put them on a magnet card, or needle holder, even a pincushion.

Just stitch, and vent as you see fit. You're not alone - we all have problems at different times.

Ellice

I can't do any counted work -- there's a disconnect between the time my eyes see the symbols, my brain interprets them, and my fingers push/pull a needle though fabric. Gridding fabric didn't help -- my grids weren't even

I find the most important asset I posess is to be able to "read the fabric". By this I mean, being able to look at what I have already sttiched, and read it the same way as I read the pattern. So I have in my mind what color each symbol is, and I can "see" the colors on the pattern, and the symbols on the part of the fabric that has been stitched. I also have a whole series of mnemonics which I use to tell me where to put the next stitch. I try and thread enough floss to do as many symbols as there are to do next, or if there are lots of symbols, a standard length. Then I just do one sttich at a time, and in the end the pattern gets finished. I also do not finish off the final stich of any color. So the loose end is at the FRONT of the fabric, where I can keep an eye on it. When I have a large area stitched, I finish off the ends. I am sure this is as clear as mud, but I tried. Jim.

First of all, tell your husband "pbffbt"! There is no "right" way. Whatever works for you IS the right way. And there are certainly plenty of people here that can help you find *your* right way. Just take it one stitch at a time. I wish I had a copy of the pattern so I could see what is hanging you up. I'm guessing it's the overlapping grey shaded areas where the four page would meet to make one pattern? And the "center strips" are that grey shaded portion? I'm not entirely sure what you mean by the whole crowns, and if it pertains to items in the picture, or if they are technical aspects of the pattern construction. Perhaps this is the overlapping portion where all four pages meet? Is this your first multi-page pattern? I remember the first time I tried one of them, and I was confused too. I do them now just the same as if it were all on one page: find the two arrows that guide you to the center point and start from there. It's a pain in the butt having to flip from one page to the next so I try and do as many of that color on the one page, then do the rest of it from the next page and so on. Otherwise, since it's only 4 pages and not like 8 (I've done a few of those too), I make a working photocopy of the chart if it's a bound chart, then cut the border paper off and tape it together so that it becomes one giant pattern with no overlapping grey shaded areas to throw me off. I use a highlighter to mark the stitches I've done as I go along. The highlighting *really* helps me.

I *think* that is what you are trying to describe, but I could be totally off. Let me know if that helps.

Jinx

Two things I do are to make an enlarged photocopy of the pattern (don't be afraid: jack it up to *huge* size if that helps you see better!) and also keep a wheel of glass-headed dressmaker's pins beside me. You can drop those into the holes when you're counting to mark, say, every tenth or twentieth stitch. Some people use earrings (studs) because you can put the clutch on to make them stay put. I prefer the pins because... well, I just do! LOL!

I've tried gridding the fabric with contrasting coloured thread, but that isn't OK for me. I just get more confused and even manage to stitch the gridding thread into the background fabric. Gormless, I know, but we really do all have our particular bugbears with counted XS!

The first thing I do with any patterns that Maureen is working on is to scan them and then enlarge them. That way I have a copy of the original and Maureen can colour the enlarged copies as much as she wants, if she gets it wrong it's easy to print off another enlarged copy