Return of The Pod People

 As we come to the end of November, what we call "The Pod People" return. Looking out of my back window I can see this:

Every year at this time there is a gathering of Christmas Trees for distribution in the yard next door. Wrapped as they are, they always remind me of the 1956 film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
I think if you look at the still from the movie it's kind of self explanatory.

Back in May I mentioned that I had been selected to teach my "Flame Fan" at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar 2022, in Tucson, Arizona. I didn't feel quite right about sharing "Flame Fan" until the classes were advertised, but as they are now up on the ANG website, I think its OK to do so.

I was supposed to be running a pilot class this week, but due to various circumstances I have had to postpone it until the end of February.  (If you live near Edinburgh, places are still available.) I knew there was a lot of work in running a class, but I don't think I understood how much. Still, we live and learn.
Having done the grunt work, I'm looking forward, with a little trepidation, to the pilot, and then to the class itself, which will be in August.

Flame Fan is 7" x11", and is worked on Congress cloth. The flames are all worked in couched Kreinik gold, using the same variegated Anchor floss. Stitching time was about 30 hours.

I have been busy on other things too. "The Big Project" has come to a temporary halt because I haven't had the git-up-and-go to move on to the next stage. Mr.G's tablecloth proceeds in small increments,

and another group of bears is off to a new home.

Not so many this time, which is good as I had so many other things going on, but the request for half-a-dozen was filled. They're obviously keen to get on their way, the fellow in the green trousers is already stretching his leg out towards the door.

I lost August

Last week was July and suddenly we're in the middle of September. I'm sure that someone out there is speeding up time.

Not that I have nothing to show for it. My attempts to learn Hardanger continue with limited success on the technical side. I can Kloster and Eyelet and Buttonhole, but I'm still having problems with my woven bands. The finished diamond is a mess, but I hope to do better with the next one. At least this time I didn't cut the wrong threads and have to re-weave them.

The poor thing is getting a bit creased with being carried around, so I'll need to sort that out, but The Mysterious Mr. G seems pleased with it so far.

I've been taking this to my Monday group, Leith Friendly Crafters. Crochet is the in thing at the moment, but I'm working on them. One of these days someone is going to join the embroidery corner of the table.

I also got volunteered by a friend. She runs a craft group at Café Sentosa, in Albert Street on a Wednesday evening (5.30 to 8.30).  "Would you come along and bring whatever you're working on? You just have to sit there and give advice, or show people how". It seems to be going well, though there are things we take for normal (as learned in the USA) that are new to people here. When I brought out a frame weight they were impressed, when I stripped and laid threads on 'The Big Project' they were fascinated.

'The Big Project' is still taking up a lot of my stitching time, but I'm now onto the inner base. Only four more of these to do and the main part of the stitching is complete. Next comes the frame. That's going to be fun. I know where I want to get to, but I'm still not 100 percent sure how to do so.

I know I'm going to need advice and probably assistance for the next bit. I may start with a visit to our local Model Railway shop. How do you link Needlepoint and Model Railways? I haven't an answer on that yet, but when this project is finished I intend to create a dedicated page with the whole story.

And somewhere in that lost time I baked our Christmas cakes. Plural. Every year I make one for us and one to share with friends. They get baked on the last weekend in August or the first in September and then every two weeks they get taken from their boxes and given 'a wee dram'. According to the recipients, it's best not to drive after a slice.

Maybe Next Month

Is it me or are the months passing more quickly? Jane-Beth says it's my age. I'm not so sure, but then that might just be my age. 

It only seems about a week since I wrote about my leap into the world of Hardanger, but it's been a month. It's been an exciting month in its way. With lockdown easing I have been able to visit my Chiropractor and my Dentist. That's exciting? Maybe not quite the right word. Pleasing doesn't fit either, but I was 'well pleased' to discover that after nearly a year and a half of lockdown and shielding I didn't need any dental work. With the Chiropractor, it's back to the old monthly 'adjustments', which I feel the better for. 

The relaxation also means that I can get together with the other "Leith Friendly Crafters".

Photo Courtesy of "Inspiring Leith"

This is me alfresco stitching in the summer sun with some of the other members of the group. Yes, there are two men. I'm still working on finding men who do embroidery and persuading them out of their corners. And yes, that is me at the front left, working on a test piece for my current "big project".

What about the Hardanger? How is that going?

The Mysterious Mr. G decided I should start his tablecloth. Three rows of Klosters as a border and five diamonds of them in the middle, he instructed. I obliged.

I'm working in the traditional white on white using Hardanger linen and DMC Perle 5 and 8. The Klosters are all worked in the Perle 5. It took me 20 hours to get this far. 

Next, Mr.G pronounced that he wanted a Blanket Stitch outer border, and could he have eyelets in the central row of the outside Klosters? And a long-ship motif in each corner?

Why not? After another 7 hours, the Blanket Stitch border is complete and the first corner of eyelets and long-ship are in place. I am using the Perle 8 for the eyelets.

I don't think I fully realised how thread hungry Hardanger is. It took two skeins of the Perle 5 to complete the Klosters and the Blanket Stitch. When the excess linen is cut back to the Blanket Stitch, Mr. G's tablecloth will measure 9" by 12". 

Considering it's my first piece, I don't think it's too bad, though there are some fairly rough bits. 

The Mysterious Mr. G. inspecting the work so far.

I'm not sure what we're planning to do next, but I did hear him muttering about cutting threads and woven bars.

Still, it's nice to have something I can put in my pocket and work in-hand.

Headbanger

 Last time, I mentioned that I had been trying Hardanger. I started from the basics, using Janice Love's "Hardanger Basics and Beyond" and of course the support and advice of Jane-Beth who said that I should start with Kloster Blocks.

I tried to find an ISBN for the book, but I think it's self published. The back cover credit is to a shop called Love'nStitches in Athens, (Georgia, not Greece). One thing I loved about this book is that at the end of each section Janice gives instructions for left handed stitchers.

I always think of Hardanger as being white on white, but I decided that since I had no idea what I was doing I'd work with a coloured perle. I started with a vibrant orange on green. That was a disaster - vision wise - so I gave up and tried orange on white. Why orange? It just happened to be at hand, as did the teal and the red.

My first 'doodle-cloth'

Kloster Blocks are simple. (Left side of image.) Well the basic stitch is simple, but then you have to remember how to move to the next block without leaving a trailing thread on the back. Trailing threads are a no-no. It's not that Hardanger is 'double sided', but as it's used for table cloths and such like, the stitches should be well enough finished that it should be difficult to tell front from back. I'm not going to embarrass myself by showing you the back of my doodle-cloths.

My second 'doodle-cloth'

After Klosters, Buttonhole. I'd not tried that before. It didn't go well to start with, but it's one of those stitches you can get into a rhythm with - until you come to a corner. I got lost on them to begin with, but perseverance was rewarded.

My Third 'doodle-cloth'

After about 30 hours I have reached the stage of the image above and tried eyelets, which I had done before, wrapped bars (bottom right) and woven bars (top right) both new to me. I also managed to cut the wrong threads.

It still needs lots of practice, but 'The Mysterious Mr. G' of whom I have written before has decided that I am almost competent enough to make him a table-cloth. He may have to wait a little longer.

Speaking of whom, in earlier blogs I've mentioned his army of knitted bears, using which he plans world domination by teddy-bear. I recently received a picture of some of his minions starting their work.

May? Already?

One and a bit years after our first lockdown things are starting to look more positive. I have had both vaccinations and Jane-Beth gets her second today. Lockdown is easing, little by little. The pubs are starting to open and I am getting back into the garden. Not my Dad's, the house has been sold, but I have a couple of friends who need what muscle I can provide, so with a bit of decent weather I will soon start to get rid of my lockdown flab. 

And the dentist has reopened! What can I say? I dislike going, but I know it's necessary, and I haven't been able to go since March (last year).

I seem to have let this blog slip since the arrival of Covid. It's not that I've been doing nothing, but the time has been sucked up by other projects.

I have recently become a columnist for Needlepointers, the magazine of the American Needlepoint Guild. I was sort of volunteered for it, and it's been an interesting experience. The feedback has been positive too, which is a bit of a boost for the ego.

In an earlier entry I mentioned that my "Flame Fan" design has been selected as a class for the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in 2022. I can see at least one column for Needlepointers and a future blog entry or two coming out of that!

"Would I mind if the other designs were offered to the Distance Learning Team?" I was asked. Of course I didn't mind. The ANG Workshop By Mail team asked if they could have "Golden Gyron". Ab-so-lootley! So it will be appearing in Needlepointers in a few months and will probably run from February to April 2022.

"Golden Gyron" is 5" x 5" and is worked entirely in gold, with the 50th anniversary of ANG in mind, but also as a sampler of stitches aimed at the less experienced needlepointer. I'm hoping it will go down well.

Work continues on 'The Big Project' which I hope to have finished for Seminar 2022. This is my first trial of how I might finish the beasts. The idea is to have them hanging, with the animal on each side, but with a different colour of background. I need to work on it a bit more! Luckily I have a couple of beasts that I'm not going to use, so I have material to practice on.

I've also been trying Hardanger, but my efforts so far are so execrable that I'd be embarrassed to put in a picture. Maybe next time.

On the down-side, no in person American Needlepoint Guild Seminar again this year. I'm not sure yet whether I will sign up for any of the on-line classes. However, I remain hopeful that next year at Tucson will go ahead (and that we'll be able to travel from Scotland).

Things you find in odd corners.

I was searching for something else when I came across this piece. It wasn't exactly that I had forgotten it, but once its purpose had been filled, I put the box in a corner.

A year and a half ago we made one of our regular visits to The Georgian House to attend a talk on 18th Century dress. One of the young ladies giving the talk was working on a piece of embroidery, so of course I had to go and speak to her. (No names, it wouldn't be fair to embarrass anyone.)

She had never tried surface embroidery and it wasn't going well. Someone had told her to use one length of thread without explaining that there were six strands. I don't think I need say more than that. She had also managed to get a massive and unentangleable (not sure that's a real word) knot. My heart went out to her. I explained that she should only be using one or at most two strands of the six, and that she was using far too long a length of thread. It was more fingertip to underarm than fingertip to elbow. She was keen to learn how to do it properly, so I said I'd come back the following week with a partly stitched piece.

As usual, I got carried away and by the time I returned I'd stitched most of this:

It's a flower spray based on a design I found in "18th Century Embroidery Techniques" by Gail Marsh, ISBN 978-1-86108-476-7. It's a pretty cool book, with lots of diagrams and pictures. The petals are worked in a single strand of Soie d-Alger using silk shading.

Let me say here that I hate doing silk shading on canvas, but I do like a bit of surface shading on other fabrics. 

We talked about transferring designs. She had heard of pricking and pouncing, but not how to do it. My advice was 'Don't'. I suggested that she trace the main outlines of her chosen design on thin tissue paper and baste it through. In my opinion it's better than prick and pounce and much better than drawing the design on the fabric, and the tissue comes away easily if you use short stitches.

We talked about weight of thread, the above is all worked with one strand, the joys of French Knots, and stitch direction for silk shading. I also advised outlining areas such as the petals in a stem stitch to give a smooth curve and a firm edge.

Of course I also showed her how to do some of the stitches.

AND I hoped I hadn't bored the young lady to death.

The finished piece measures about 6" across and lives in an i-pad box.

Am I A Happy Bunny?

Ecstatic, might be a better word, but also nervous, a little frightened and feeling well pleased with myself. 

Why?

I submitted three proposals for classes to be taught at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Tucson, 2022, and one of them, "Flame Fan" has been selected. I am going to be teaching at Seminar! 

Cool, but worrying! It's a tick on my bucket list, something I've wanted to do for years just so I can say I've done it, and I'm looking forward to it with just that sense of trepidation.

Next steps? It's well over a year away, but I still need to tidy up the stitch guide and find some local embroiderers to pilot the class. I also have to gather the class materials and find out what I need to do about visas that allow me to work in the USA. And there will be all those things I haven't thought about yet!

Will I get the teaching bug?

I don't know. I may be a terrible teacher, or it may all go swimmingly. Only time will tell.

Since I don't know the rules, I'm assuming I shouldn't share the selected design with you. All I'm saying at this point is that it's worked with variegated threads and a gold metallic. Well, you know me, I like a bit of bling.

On bling, since I can't share "Flame Fan", I thought I'd share a bit of bling with you.

These are part of my current BIG project. Planning ahead, it probably will not be finished until 2022.

As you can see, I've looked at heraldry again. The silver and gold are from my collection of Kreinik metal threads, the colours, or tinctures, are Soie d'Alger. Then there's this bit.

The cute dragon is all worked in Kreinik metallic threads. It's worked on congress cloth, using #8 braid, which is maybe a little on the thick side, but I wanted to give the figure bulk as well as bling. The dragon is worked in Tent Stitch, to get the detail, and is about 3" tall. I wasn't going for even-ness of stitch here, but for the sparkle as the figure moves.

I can almost hear you thinking "what's the nutty Scotsman at now?

The background is, not surprisingly, Soie d'Alger in Basketweave. 

This project has gone through starts and stops and disasters. The metal threads were no problem. We have a large collection of Kreinik metals gathered over the years. The BIG DISASTER was the backgrounds to the figures (there are a number of them). Having carefully calculated how much thread I needed, I discovered I had miscalculated. I tried to get more of the same, but the dye-lots had changed and I just knew I'd not get a match. 

Solution? I may have to re-work all the backgrounds I've completed. I doubt if I have sufficient of some of the metals to totally re-stitch all of the figures, so I'll just have to rip out the backgrounds that don't match.

Frog-stitching - what fun (not). I'm not looking forward to it, but it will be an improvement when it's done.

What's in a Name?

Last night, Jane-Beth mentioned that it was over a month since I had last updated my blog. A month? When I looked, it was over two months. Where does time go? I mean it's not that I've been doing nothing, but these are, as the politicians and commentators tell us, Unprecedented Times, and we're probably all a bit out of kilter.

It's been nearly a year since the Pandemic hit the UK. and it's been a year unlike any other that I can remember. That's despite many of my 'friends' claiming that I'm so old I remember The Black Death ("Not enough people left to bury the dead.") of 1384.

You may well have guessed that since I am writing this, we have not been smitten by Covid. That's mostly down to Jane-Beth, who has kept me inside most of the time. I have been Locked Down, Shielded, Protected, and now I'm back in Lock Down again. Despite the arrival of vaccines I fully expect to remain in Lock Down until at least May. It's not that I'm a pessimist, but it takes time to inoculate over Sixty Million people.

We had a bit of a relaxation of the restrictions over the summer, which did allow me to go and visit my Dad and get his garden tidy. Gardens, aren't they incredible? Before the pandemic I spent five years bringing some semblance of order back to a garden that hadn't been as much as weeded or pruned for at least ten and maybe nearer fifteen years. Between April and July I couldn't visit him because he lived on the opposite side of the River Forth. When I got back in August it was like the garden had grown two years in three months!

I was glad I was able to get back to visiting him. I'm not sure he actually knew who I was by then other than 'a young relative who comes to do the garden'. Old age and dementia had taken its toll on Dad, and at 93 years old, and never having recovered from a stroke he had some years ago, Dad took another stroke in October and didn't recover. Pandemic restrictions meant that only immediate family and grandchildren were able to attend his funeral, but we gave him a proper send-off. Dad had spent years in the military, starting during WWII, then later as a Naval Chaplain, so he had the flag-draped coffin with the officer's cap and his medals on top of it. No hymns allowed, everyone masked, and only the Minister allowed to speak, but he went off to the music of Eternal Father (the Naval Hymn) and Sunset. Yes, I got a bit choked. I miss him, but it's for the best. He knew he was, as he said himself, 'aould an' ravelled' and 'abun fit til gang'.

Apologies, but I felt that I had to share that, if only for my own benefit.

"So what have you been doing?" You might well ask. I've been working on a few pieces that might become classes, and as ANG members might have spotted, am about to appear in the next issue of 'Needlepointers'. The Editorial team asked if I would submit a project and I offered them this:

Watch out too for "Thoughts From A Far Country.

And moving rapidly on, A QUIZ.

What is the name of this stitch?

I call it Dinnaken Stitch. Why? Well when I was stitching this:

I was asked what the stitch was. Now that one stumped me for a moment. I couldn't remember where I had found it or what it was called, so I said "dinna ken" (translation, "I don't know").

Afterwards, I went through more stitch books than I care to think about - our embroidery library's a bit like an Aladdin's cave - and I couldn't find it in any of them, so it became "Dinnaken" Stitch.

And with couching:

So this is the quiz.

Can you name that stitch?