Dr Eugenie Clark
So, I haven’t blogged for nearly a week, primarily because I haven’t embroidered since Sunday last, and then I didn’t finish the particular test I wanted to do, so there was nothing to blog about. I have, however, been creative. Very creative.
I’m running a workshop at Mead Public Library here in Sheboygan on 8 August about crocheting women in STEM, and had promised that I’d have four patterns ready. The sudden realisation that I had only one and a half (Dr Mae Jemison needs a tweak as her neck is floppy) combined with the lack of other deadlines to result in my spending much of Monday and half of Tuesday feverishly crocheting new figures, and continuing to crochet each evening. I’ve still got a few bits left to finish up, but normal service will be resumed soon!
I had three goals for today’s work:
- Find out of a single strand stem stitch for the edge of the sword works as well as the double strand, and I have to say that I don’t think it does. It just doesn’t really stand out.
- Find out if I should fill the whole sword. I think half would be better (I did just over half as I originally thought I’d fill the whole area).
- Whether I should use satin stitch or French knots, and I think the knots are better in this instance.
Not much left to test now, just the knight’s robe, and a few more leaf tests. Then I’ll be ready to set up the real thing!
Green and Bayeux stitch or green and satin stitch? With stem stitch edge or not?
I really changed my mind about front of the shield. I thought about doing a vertical long and short stitch, but it just didn’t feel right, so instead I went for a satin stitch in a radial pattern. I didn’t mark out the directions, which I will do when I do it for real so that the radial pattern is even. And the edges will be neater too!!
Not going to complete that area because this isn’t a colour choice issue, it’s a stitch issue and I’m happy with the split stitch to give it a bit of texture.
Short entry today: I worked on the snail again, but haven’t finished it, so photos tomorrow!
Colour testing two reds, one more of a plum. And practicing fishbone stitch.
I was feeling a bit ropey yesterday, so saved up that time for the snail test today. Although, to be honest, I probably spent a couple of hours on it whilst I was watching Wimbledon, which is slightly more than the 10-15 mins per day I had originally imagined spending!
Anyway, this test is slightly involved. First up, the small round bits, for lack of a better term:
1. Double stranded french knot in the middle, over double stranded satin stitch
2. Double stranded satin stitch in the middle, over satin stitch
3. Single stranded cross stitch, surrounded by radial satin stitch
4. Single stranded french knot, surrounded by single stranded french knots
5. Double stranded french knot, surrounded by double stranded french knots
And then the three segments:
A. Double stranded long and short stitch
B. Single stranded radial satin-long and short stitch mix
C. Single stranded split stitch
And then there’s the colours:
Top: Bright blues
Bottom: Muted blues
Photo is slightly fuzzy, but you get the gist. I’ll try to get some better ones tomorrow.
So, which to go with? I have my thoughts, but it might be better to make a choice once some of the other colours are filled in.
I thought that it might be a good idea to do a small leaf in each of the greens, not just to help with identifying which colour might work best, but also to help me decide how to do the embroidery of the leaves themselves. I have decided on a fishbone stitch, which is probably the easiest way to do leaves of this size.
Here, you get a better handle on the greens, even if they are a little fuzzy.
This is going to be a hard one, because the test today is about colours, and it’s hard to photograph colours well, especially with an ipad and especially at this time of night under mixed artificial light. I have one pale green (first top curl), and then a choice of a dark green that’s quite muted (right-hand end of vine and curl), and a dark green that’s quite bright (left-hand end of vine and second curl). These are the actual silks, not DMC stand-ins.
This is a tough decision because both greens work well in context, even if they look a bit odd when you put the skeins next to one another. It may just be that I need to get some of the other colours in place in order to see how they work together.
Anyway, four photos, and maybe they’ll show the difference.
