I'm stitching a pretty rose pattern from Eline Pellinkhof's lovely book Stitch & Sew Home. which I reviewed last year. In the book the pattern is stitched as a cushion but I'm using ordinary embroidery threads and sewing it to (probably) be framed in a hoop (I've not 100% decided yet).
So far it's mostly been a lovely relaxing project and perfect for half-asleep evenings in front of the TV.
Unfortunately when it came to choosing the blues I wanted to use I changed my mind a few times and had to do some tedious, fiddly unpicking (unpicking cross stitch is such a pain). This pic was taken mid-way through the third bit of unpicking...
First I used a too-dark blue (top left in the picture below) for the butterfly. I unpicked that, and re-stitched with the lighter shade (top right, below). Much better!
Then I started adding the second shade of blue (bottom right), decided it was too close to the new main shade I was using, unpicked it, started stitching with an even paler shade (bottom left), decided that the new blue was actually too pale after all and wouldn't stand out well enough against the white background, unpicked again... and went back to the original second shade. What a faff.
I'm happy with the blues now though (hurrah!) and am making a start on adding the greens...
... one shade of green down, two more to go. Fingers crossed I won't need to do any more unpicking!
it's really pretty! Well worth the unpicking ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous - I have that book, too, and I love the colours you (finally) settled on! It's actually so helpful to see your process, to see I'm not the only one who changes her mind, unpicks, etc! Chrissie x
ReplyDeleteI love all embroidery, and many designs are best suited to counted work which I think looks lovely. I find it the hardest to do though as I just can't count and keep my place. I like to grid up the fabric which helps once I've done it, but the counting you need to do makes it a pain. I mostly do freestyle because I find it difficult to keep my place.
ReplyDeleteLovely pretty design that you have chosen. I like your colours as pink and blue together are favourites for me.
Sara
I am into roses at the moment I have some beautiful fabric from Tanya Whelan and the cross stitch would go great with it.
ReplyDeleteit's really pretty...:)
ReplyDeleteCharlotte - thanks!
ReplyDeleteChrissie - glad it's not me who does this :)
Sara - I find this quite hard too, especially if I'm a bit half-asleep! Getting started is the trickiest bit for me, once I've got something I can count from it's not nearly as bad. I also like stitching one half of all the Xs then going back and stitching the other half, as that means I only have to concentrate on following the pattern for half the time :)
ga447 - ooh, that rose fabric is lovely!
Sonia - thanks! x