Shtoopid newbie questions :P

On Mon, 05 Jun 2006 18:31:16 GMT, Tracey defied the laws of time and space to say:

Everything you wanted to know about stitching on linen!

-Bertha

We all were newbies once and all asked the same questions! The fact that you are willing to ask to expand your stitching knowledge is a good thing!

Linen is an "evenweave" which means that it has the same number of threads both back and forth and up and down. Stitching "2 over 2" means you have two strands on the needle and are counting up and across two threads to form the X. Think of it as tic-tac-toe and you are going corner to corner to form the X.

Hope this helps!

Caryn

Thank ye much. :)

Tracey

That makes perfect sense. Thanks. :)

Tracey

My goodness! That was informative. But I still don't know what a double mesh fabric is, except Penelope?

Dianne

Well, maybe if I used the actual term the book uses, it might ring a bell. Double thread canvas, not double mesh.

Tracey

Tracey wrote: > Well, maybe if I used the actual term the book uses, it might

That, I believe, would be Penelope canvas, which is a double-thread canvas. Thanks for that insight. I was beginning to think my mind went completely. I do have some lawn that is made like a double thread, where there is a greater distance between the threads every two threads. This comes in handy when counting.

Dianne

The book I've got is called The Creative Art of Needlepoint Tapestry published in 1972 so the terms have, obviously, changed. :) 'Penelope' is used a lot in the book but not as a description of a fabric but as in 'Penelope Design R04 so I had assumed that it was a pattern company.

Tracey

Ye Gods Tracey! I had that book years ago too; I think it was my "first" Had some really 70's loking stuff in it IIRC. (probably threw it away after it had kept a table from wobbling for ages). So many pretty books out there, can't keep 'em all!

I do find linen has a lot more give/stretch in it than other cross-stitch fabrics and I always use a hoop for it. Did Teresa Wentzler's English cotage Garden on 28 count linen (sure it took 10 years...) and put it on a tapestry frame to make it easier for me. Looked so pretty when done.

Welcome to the art!

Cheers, Fay

Oh, don't feel badly about misunderstanding. It's all so overwhelming at first. Penelope canvas is often used when a portion of the design is going to be stitched in petit pointe, wherein the double threads are split and tent stitches made (doubling the number of stitches used). Often used in flower centers, faces, hands, etc.

Have fun. Embroidery is so darned rewarding.

Dianne

Tracey skrev:

Not to add fuel to the proverbial enabling fire :-P but:

Absolutely gorgeous paintings. I wonder how they would *really* look in cross stitch. Even the site suggests: "The final cross stitch project might look like the following image" There's that little word "might". The Asians have developed such fine-tuned training for their art and embroidery. Highly disciplined. And, again, we only see the work of the highly talented. Not everyone is that good.

Dianne

"Amber" tempted us with:

Check out the Chinese Zodiac designs--they have the look of traditional Chinese papercuts. Dawne

Dianne Lewandowski skrev:

>>

I agree. Honestly, the 'might' product is an enlarged picture of the original picture, or the computer generated image. None of them look actually 'stitched'. the tiger is really big. I 48 W x 36 H in, and

672 W X 504 H Stitches. That's on 14 count

Hehe. :) Did I mention I bought it at a used book store? You're right, lots of stuff that, now that you mention it, has a 70's look to it. I bought it mainly for the pattern for some chair seats (floral wreath) and then found the list and directions for different stitches in it later.

Tracey

I love used bookstores as a place to find stash-y books! (as well as trashy books).

Cheryl

> >> >

That's the thing with computer generated charts. They are either HUGE to fit in all the details, or small and blobby without the fine details that attracted you to the original picture in the first place.

I don't buy this stuff, just because a lot of people who run these pictures thru charting software don't take the necessary time to clean up the charts, leaving you with tons of confetti stitches. Without a stitched sample (even a 4" square out of the chart), it's impossible to tell if the charter did a decent job or not.

Caryn

I agree with you, Caryn, 100%. I produce my own computer generated charts for my own use, and cannot, and do not, clean up the confetti stitches. I find some of them are vital to the look of the pattern when finished, some dont matter at all, and everything in between. Unfortunately I dont know which is which until the stitching is done, by which time it is too late. IMHO, anyone who cannot handle confetti stitches physically or psychologially will *never* complete any computer generated chart.

Doing a lot of TW's as I do, it's not the confetti itself that bothers me. It's the 3 individual sts of 1 color of DMC scattered at least 6" apart that I think could be cleaned up without losing a whole lot! lol

Caryn