Tippity-tappity

Joan,

Glad to hear about someone else doing a happy dance.

Now, about the silk...you will love working with silk. Which brand are you using for the "Bloom where you're planted"? I have a feeling that you will shortly be joining the silk snob group. I am a happy member of the silk snob group and have been for several years.

Keep up the good work. Alice

Congrats!!! I know what an accomplishment that one is! Mine is no longer with us (she doesn't look as nice after a good coating of soot! Ah well), but I do remember how great it felt to finish her!

Gonna do the cut out mat around her wings?

Caryn

So, are you going to re-stitch what you lost in the fire? I think my OCD would torture me until the day I died if I didn't.

"Joan E." ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

Well done Joan, congrats.

Included in the threadpack I got are: Gloriana silk Access Au ver a Soie Kreinik Mori Caron Waterlilies Access Soie Perlee

happy member

Don't know that I have enough money to become a snob! LOL! My collection of silks is currently what's in the numerous threadpacks I've purchased for future projects.

Thanks....I'm trying! :)

Joan

How sad, Caryn! To think of all that hard work gone. :(

Haven't thought that far ahead, yet. It would certainly add to the piece, though, wouldn't it? My framer is pretty good with ideas so I'll see what she has to say.

Joan

That is wonderful!

Cheryl

I'll probably, eventually, start a few of them again. There are a couple TW's that I still like enough to do a restart on, but I'm not sure if Fairy Grandmother will be one I do again. Altho, now that the kids rooms are repainted she would work in two of the three, while she didn't before the fire! lol

Caryn

Congrats.

Be careful, you'll turn into an addict ;^) So, you'll probably catch up with me, as I haven't stitched on the Summer Garden since I said I'd likely finish it last weekend - not a stitch. But, DH is reffing 2 games this afternoon/evening - which should be good for about 4.5 hours of stitching time, and I should be able to finish this weekend.

Happy stitchin' ellice

That's actually a nice cross section. Can you tell the difference in the feel or look of any of them? Personally, I love the feel of waterlillies, and the look. I like the colorations of the Gloriana, but I don't think I like the actual silk as much - it seems a bit fuzzier. I've recently been using some Needlepoint Inc silk, and it's really nice. Hmmm, maybe I'll send you a "squishy" with some samples from my stash. I have what I'm using on Summer Garden - which is a big variety of Splendor, Gloriana, Elegance in place of the Soie Perlee, Waterlillies, and some GlissenGloss - it's gorgeous - great look, but I don't think I'd use it for a big project. And the Mori & some Au ver a Soir.

See above - if you want some cuts - I'd be happy to send you some lengths. Always encouraging someone else to build an addiction. Honestly, I think it took a while for me to become addicted - don't know that I'm a snob, but I do end up with a lot of projects in silk rather than cotton.

What's killing me is the Gutterman silk thread I'm using for sewing some silk garments - that price I definitely feel.

No doubt it's lovely good work!

ellice

A new question: are any of these washable or do I have to keep my hands really clean when stitching with them (something I'm not used to doing!)?

I haven't really worked with them long enough to get a real "feel" for them, yet, although the Access Soie Perlee is nice. Maybe I'll have to do a little floss-petting exercise. :)

Not really necessary at this point in time, but thanks for the offer! I'm kinda curious to see what I have for leftovers when I'm done with all the threadpacks and I'm trying to figure out a way to mark and store them

The first project I ever thought about doing in silk was Le Jardin (don't remember the designer), which was in an issue of JCS a number of years ago. I've just never gotten around to getting the materials together for that one. There used to be a threadpack available for that, too, but when JCS changed hands they evidently lost track of who was selling them.

Well, the designer helped just a *bit* by creating something lovely! :):):)

Now I have another question for you, Ellice, or anyone else who has done Summer Garden. In band 4, only the horizontal threads are removed from the looks of it. When doing the herringbone stitch underneath the cut part, am I supposed to (oh, how to say this?) pull the threads of the top part of the stitch together to create the "W"s shown on the pattern? The directions don't really say.

And in instructions for band 6, what are the lines through the triangles (signifying the beads)...is that the direction the floss is supposed to go through the beads so the beads lie (lay?) at an angle? I usually do a cross stitch through beads to keep them more vertical...

TIA for any help with this project!

Joan

The only silk thread that I know can be washed (according to the label) is Needlepoint Inc. I don't know for sure about any of the others.

Alison

Well, I've worked with all of the above -- Needlepoint, INC. and Eterna included -- except for the Gloriana Silk and I wash all of them. If I am working with something that is dark or overdye (reds especially) then I rinse, rinse, rinse in cold water and then do vinegar soak and rinse a bunch more if needed. Yes, it does dilute the variegation some but not so much that it is unacceptable. I wash my finished pieces -- especially those done with with silk fibers -- in cool water using Orvus and I have never had any of the colors run. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

The Gloriana is really not washable. Waterlilies - well, you'd probably have to have rinsed them before sittching, and they may fade a bit. So, really clean. And use good non greasy handlotion - because the silk will catch - annoyingly - on any rough spots on your hands. I have some really good Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream that I use - plus being extreme - I use the hand exfoliant first. I probably do that a couple of times a week. Definitely keep some appropriate stitcher's hands lotion around - at lest for me I find that I have to use it a bit more often than when stitching with floss. And let it soak in before stitching.

LOL - of course you will. Honestly, I don't really notice the difference until I'm stitching, but that's me.

You could just punce a hole in some index card, and loop them through, write on the card what it is - your own tags. I keep mine in a breathable plastic box with some acid free tissue liner. Or they're in floss bags when being used. For the most part, I have skeins ringed as a group, and then stored.

That happens. Since I have stash, I don't know - some things just seem to call out to me for the silk, so I do it.

Yes, you definitely pull the top, loop around the 2 vertical threads, but not toooooo tight.. I did it the first time without pulling, and realized the mistake. On the VS website, there is a stitch animation of the Herrinbone Hem Stitch (it would have helped if the chart referenced). From that you can see the pulling which is what gives you the double "V" shape. It's not nearly as dramatic as the chart looks, but does look nice.

to Hemstitching (Drawn Thread), and then scroll down, you'll find theHerringbone Hem Stitch, and then just play the animation.

Yup - that's what I think it is. I'm in the last band section now, and may actually avoid furniture staining, and stitch on this today while doing laundry, etc. I do the beads last, so haven't done them yet. I'll send you some pix separately if you like - from my progress. Of course, I did it in other colors, and the cat is now a dog.

Hey - I moaned about the double herringbone hemstitch when I did it and then ripped it 'cause I didn't like how it looked the first time. Hope this helped.

ellice

Good point. I immediately was thinking about the Gloriana & Waterlilies. I'be washed Waterlilies before - but as you say - prior to stitching. The Gloriana, it just doesn't seem happy washed. The overdyed stuff is already a bit, umm, fuzzier -for lack of a technical term- than the Waterlilies, and when I rinsed a trial piece just didn't seem so good. I definitely wash the other non-overdyed silk in pieces.

Just for me, I usually end up with a bunch of overdyes in my pieces, and tend to not wash them. But, you never know.

ellice

Thanks, TM. I've already stitched using most of the colors (some on my Bloom freebie) so maybe I'll take a snippets of the Gloriana and the reds, wet them and see what happens when laid on a paper towel. That should give me a good idea of what will happen to the linen.

Joan

And let it soak in before stitching.

Have found this out already! My hands don't seem too bad right now, but that silk still finds the *tiniest* bit of skin to catch on, doesn't it?

That's probably what I'll do. I just recently reorganized my floss cabinets, though, so I think I have a few empty drawers just waiting for *something*! :)

It sure would have. Thanks for the link...it helped a lot (did that band at lunchtime) and, now that I know the animations are there, I can check if I have problems with any other of the stitches.

Okay, I guess I'll try that and see how I like it and if it makes a difference.

That would be great. My address isn't munged.

LOL! Sounds like my very first cross stitch project ooooooh so many years ago. The pattern had a cow on it and I made it into a horse! :) Wish I'd thought of a dog, since that's what we have.

It did a lot! Thanks a bunch!

Joan

Should I be using shorter lengths with the silk? It seems like they're

*all* becoming fuzzy just handling them! sigh.

Joan

I just looked at my Gloriana, and the tag says it's handwashable. Just my personal feeling. With the Caron silk, they suggest that you wash your linen first, and that their dyes are colorfast, but not guaranteeing the overdyes won't lose some color. And of course to wash the reds, darks separately.

Have fun.

ellice