Sinister Craftiness

Hardanger centerpiece from Burda Hardanger E344
Flax Dublin linen (25 count)
Stitched with Caron Watercolours and Wildflowers “Sandstone”

We’ve been snowed in all week, so it’s been perfect weather for staying indoors and finishing this little centerpiece.  It measures about 12″ (30 cm) square on 25 count linen, so if it were stitched on Hardanger cloth it would be a little larger.

I love the antique look of the linen and soft pastel variegated thread.  The “Sandstone” palette as it appears in Wildflowers is a very close match to this linen, making it an excellent stand-in for #8 perle cotton.

It looks intricate, but the stitches are all pretty basic and the cutwork is limited to small areas, so it was not a difficult project.  Even so, it seems like a Hardanger project of this size and detail takes me between one month and six weeks to complete.  This centerpiece will be a Christmas gift, and I hope the intended recipient will enjoy it.

Best wishes to all for a very happy Thanksgiving holiday, with safe travels and plenty to be thankful for!

Last month I attended the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) Annual General Meeting.  This year the AGM was held in Portland, Oregon and focused on Northanger Abbey.  All the details of mayhem, mystery, and muslin can be found on the family blog, so here’s just a quick summary for the craft room.

I was a member of a panel discussion Friday morning and it’s hard to say who had more fun, we panel members or the audience. We hired an actor to play Henry Tilney, the hero of Northanger Abbey, and his performance was one of the highlights of the AGM.  Some of the ladies were very disappointed to learn that he would not be attending the Saturday night ball, as they were hoping to dance with him!

I attended several breakout sessions and Team Gimlet toured the beautiful and serene Portland Japanese Garden.  It rained that afternoon, so the garden was not crowded.

Saturday night wrapped up the meeting on a high note with the banquet and Bal Masque.  There were beautiful and creative Regency-era fashions and costumes to admire everywhere.

During a lunch break some of us managed a quick side trip to the nearby Portland fiber arts district:  the knitters visited Knit Purl while I checked out The Playful Needle next door, met Noodles the shop dog, and stocked up on Threadgatherer Silk N’Colours.

I did get a little stitching done on the train trip to Portland!  Here’s a peek at the small Hardanger centerpiece I’m stitching on Dublin linen (25 count) with Caron Watercolours:

I finished the surface stitches today, so now it’s on to the pulled stitches and then the cutwork begins.

Hardanger doily from Burda Hardanger E395
Confederate Grey Quaker cloth (28 count)
Stitched with Trebizond and Soie Perlée

This is the “lacy edge” doily I was working on last week, and it turned out pretty well for a first try at lacy edges.  I had this scrap of Quaker cloth in my stash, and found it was a great fabric for Hardanger.  The cotton blend makes it a little fuller than pure linen, but it still holds the pulled and drawn shapes nicely.  I love the look and feel of long filament twisted silk; it adds a luxurious shine to the design, making small Hardanger projects like this one extra special.  For more information about twisted silk threads and how to use them, read Mary Corbet’s Needle ‘n Thread article, one of my favorite resources for learning about all things embroidery.

I call the cutting stage “Zombie Hardanger” because during that part of the process the piece looks like undead embroidery:  nasty big gaps and loose threads hanging out every which way.  When there’s a lot of cutting to do, it can seem like no amount of weaving, wrapping, or fillings will make it look better, and that’s when panic suggests a shotgun and a shovel might be the best solution to the mess.  But don’t give up; the needleweaving and other fillings really do tame the monster into something as docile as a doily. And hopefully the zombie reference will make up for my lack of Halloween stitching this year.

Silk Rosebud scissors keeper by C.A. Wells
Soft white Northern Cross linen (35 count)
Stitched with Soie Cristale

I spent most of September working on a few different Hardanger projects:  the doily I made last year; a small table runner from an issue of Burda Hardanger, and another small Burda Hardanger doily.  The doilies are still in progress, so there’s nothing to show off yet.  Unfortunately I wasn’t too fond of the table runner pattern to begin with (but it looked like it would go quickly, so I chose it anyway) and then I didn’t like the variegated thread I chose; it’s much too bright for me.  I hoped the runner would grow on me as it progressed, but no.  I don’t think it’s nice enough to give away as a gift either, so I’ve put it aside for now.

Another Hardanger gift is in the queue; I love the design and hopefully the variegated thread I’ve chosen for it will work well with the pattern.  The skein is on order from my LNS and I’m eager to get started once it shows up.  Meanwhile, I needed a break from the dozens of eyelets on the pink doily and weaving the lacy edge on the other doily (which may be another disaster, or not … will find out soon), and this dainty little three-sided scissor fob was a perfect fit:  stitched and finished in one day.

Last weekend was a good one for stitching, but it’s been difficult to find time this week to blog about it. I started a small doily (or coaster?) from Burda Hardanger E344:

As you can see, it’s small and simple, and features one of my favorite motifs, the edelweiss.  I’m stitching it with #5 and #8 white perle cotton on 25 count Lugana.   I chose this pattern because I wanted to learn how to make a lacy edge border.  I haven’t started the border yet; I’m still reading through the instructions.

Meanwhile the JOB is coming along great!  All eight panel borders are stitched (correctly this time) and panel #1 is well underway.  The lower part of the panel is complete except for beadwork, and the upper area is about half done.  I’ll post pictures when the first panel is complete or at the end of March, whichever comes first.