A Bluestocking Knits

Bands Four and Five

My blackwork sampler as of today.  I really like this large band -- so much 17th-century wackiness going on here!

I debated a long time about whether to use one strand of silk or two, and went with two after mulling over a post on that topic at String or Nothing.  Some of the irregularities can certainly be laid at my door, as it were, though sometimes it is that the silk thread is ever-so-slightly heavier in one place than in another, and other times the irregularities in the linen ground push the thread a bit to one side.  Still, I'm happy with the two-strands, especially as I can use the loop start, easy and quite secure!

I wasn't sure if these little leaves would read much, as they're so small, but I'm glad they do --

"Virtue Outshines the Stars"

The "Virtue Outshines the Stars" sampler by Darlene O'Steen, one of my must-do pieces -- about six months of fairly steady stitching.  I confess that I was getting a bit weary of it towards the end, but I'm very happy with the result!  I used the original DMC colors -- on 32-count linen from xJudesign in "Milk Chocolate" -- but made a few tweaks here and there, re-spacing the alphabets slightly, centering the elements that were (curiously) not so, and as I mentioned previously, changing out the uppermost flower in the vases in the bottom band -- though on the whole, obviously, a superb design, I think one of O'Steen's best.

Lots of queen stitch! -- here in the flowers in the border and horizontally as a small dividing band, an unusual use for it but effective.

The new-to-this-piece larger flower is from O'Steen's "Tudor Rose Sampler" in her The Proper Stitch book, here with the arrowhead stitch center in 3045, the outline in 356, the double-backstitch "tips" in 356 + 358, and the satin stitch in 758.  I'm not entirely pleased with my choices, but I do like the proportions much better now --

One of my favorite details is the birds in the upper corners! --

Yowza!

The top border is done!  I'm pretty sure there's some more queen stitch left at the bottom -- which is still rolled up on the frame -- but this feels like a milestone!

Queen Stitch ad Infinitum

Carrying on with the Border of Endless Queen Stitches.  They look quite pretty, once they're done. (Sigh!)  The title of the previous post made me dig out The Serial Garden, wh. I had bought (without ever having read it myself) for the girls years ago on the recommendation of some list of quirky books for children -- Laura apparently wasn't interested at the time, and Julia, who I would have thought more likely to appreciate the sang froid with which the Armitage family, especially siblings Mark and Harriet, meet the surreal events that occur -- usually on Mondays, "but not always Mondays, and not only Mondays, or that would get a bit dull" -- read a few stories and put it down in favor of something else, and was never again tempted to pick it back up.  I thought that the book had been weeded from the girls' shelf -- and I had read only the first couple of stories! -- having searched high and low for it to no avail.  I was quite relieved to find just recently that it hadn't after all, and have been enjoying the rest of the stories very much over the past week or so.  (I already had a fond memory of Aiken because of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, which I now must dig out and re-read ....)

Yes, But Today's Tuesday

This band of the "Virtue" sampler is getting worked in stages, a few threads of each color at a time: first the light-green "arcade" and adjoining leaves as I come to them, then the very-dark green ditto, adding the stems and tendrils, then the purplish grapes, and lastly filling in every other grape (why every other? I don't know, I've been tempted now and then to fill all of them ...), with queen stitches.  Darlene O'Steen is the queen of queen stitches -- strewth, there are queen stitches all over this piece!  Grapes, flowers in the central field, dividing bands worked horizontally, that border -- thirty-nine flowers, each made of forty-five queen stitches!  I don't even want to do the math.  I like the way the finished queen stitch looks, but it's a bit of a pain to work, as for me it takes two hands to get it to lie flat.  Oh well -- this is one of my favorite charts ever.  (Not that I'm resistant to a bit of tweaking.  I came to that dividing band between the two parts of the small alphabet and thought, "wait, just crosses? Darlene O'Steen did a dividing band in plain old cross stitch?!" and I worked it in Montenegrin, because there isn't any in this chart at all!)

These are O'Steen's original colors, all DMC, though I must say they look noticeably darker in real life than in the photograph on the cover of the chart!  I like the fabric a lot -- there was no suggestion for it, and so I chose this 32-count “Milk Chocolate” from xJudesign, a lovely soft brown with a bit of depth from that hint of mottling.

I have not given up knitting, though it may seem so at times from the lack of it here -- it occurred to me not long ago that I am actually running short on knitted socks (!), and so I dug out some KnitPicks Stroll in "Mountain Pass" that was a years-ago gift (thanks, mom!), and cast on for "Petty Harbour".  The pattern is fairly simple, though I admit that the dark-green of the yarn makes it hard to see which row I'm on, and I'm having to check off each row as I go.

A Quaker Pin Keep Ornament

I'm embarrassed to say that I've had these photos for a year and not written up the post -- so here it is. 

I wanted to make something for my choir director -- she quilts, and so I didn't want to quilt something for her just yet ... and so I thought of these Quaker-style pin-keeps that quietly show up around the interwebs now and again.  It didn't need to be all from my stash, but it turned out that I could, and so it was frugal as well as plain -- also very Quaker.  This seemed an entirely fitting quotation for a choir director and musician --

This was testing colors.  The "Shepard's Blue" has a lot of purple in it (pretty, but not the effect I wanted), and "Blue Jeans" is a handsome mid-range blue, but I went with "Brethren Blue" (the wrapped one).  "Collards" and "Schneckley" were my first choices for green and gold, respectively.  "Lancaster Red" is definitely more scarlet than "Williamsburg Red," which has a slightly muted note to it, but I went with "Old Brick" since it played well with the other very-saturated choices.

The assembly is a bit fiddly, but fairly straightforward.  Between the mat-board round and the needlework are two layers of cotton batting, just to give it a bit of softness.  The needlework is gathered around the edges with small stitches, then inveigled onto the mat-board round, and stitched across the opening to keep it in place.  I don't much like the idea of glue on needlework, and so I whip-stitched the two rounds together.  The stitches are covered with a narrow ribbon, and glass-headed pins stuck in at regular intervals to hold the ribbon in place.  (Historically, you could actually use this as a pin cushion, lining them up all around the edges.)

I was very pleased with how this turned out -- although I would rather that it was a bit smaller, this was the fabric I had, and the design and the beautiful colors are very pleasing.

I'm happy to share this chart, which also has finishing instructions (though without pictures) -- Download Pin Keep 1 (Make a Joyful Noise)

Wilkommen!

I came across the Victorian Motto Shoppe some time ago, in my travels 'round the interwebs looking at samplers and threads, as one does, and I said to myself, "interesting!" -- Laura Ingalls did some embroidery on perforated paper, mentioning designs and silks that were in the barrel that came for the family on the first train that made it through at the end of The Long Winter -- and I thought little more of it until for some reason a few months ago, it snuck into my mind again and would not leave.  I chose this one for reminding me of my German heritage.  The designer (and owner of the Etsy shop), Nancy Turner, assures us in the instructions that it is very easy and will take only "a few evenings" to complete!  It took me a bit less than a week, actually, but that might have been because I had to forget a lot of cross-stitch method, and partly because getting the curves pleasing while limited to 45°-angled stitches took a bit of trial and error! but this was not particularly onerous, and the heavy paper is sturdy enough to withstand a fair amount of (gentle) picking out and re-stitching.  I'm a sucker for a bit of satin stitch anyways!

I changed the originally-red flowers to blue, as they reminded me of poinsettias, and that made it a bit Christmassy -- all four flowers took four out of the five strands in a skein of Gentle Arts' "Crystal Lake".

Starting and stopping threads took a bit of finagling, as there aren't many places to secure ends, and you have to be careful about crossing an open hole in the paper, as the thread will show.  I tried a couple of different ways as I went, and found that what seemed to me the most efficient and secure way was to bury the end between the paper and the satin stitches as much as possible! though obviously there are still some ends coming out at the back.  These can be trimmed, which I haven't done yet.  (Nor have I poked out the numerous "hanging chads" ...)

I thought this was going to be just a single flirtation with perforated-paper mottoes, but I could be persuaded to do another.  In the meantime, here are some links about the history of perforated-paper embroidery, with numerous examples --

• a post at Mary Corbet's "Needle 'n Thread"
• another at Adirondack Girl @ Heart
• Claudia Dutcher Kistler's entire website devoted to perforated-paper embroidery!
• two posts at Tricia Wilson Nguyen's "Thistle Threads," here (these "lace"-edged cards are I think the kind that Laura Ingalls worked) and here (some free charts for small pictorial projects)
• and an alas now-defunct blog by Jennifer Clement of Sage Stitchworks with photos of all of her company's designs (most in the motto style)

(I don't know what the ratio actually is, but there are some Victorian mottoes worked in tent stitch, whereas many more seem to have been worked in this 45°-angled stitch -- quite a number of the latter in variegated thread!)

The other project I finished recently is the "Awake My Soul" cross stitch by La-D-Da, which I thought would be a good piece to donate to my choir's next fund-raiser.  I missed this year's, since I had to wait so long for the fabric, but I really wanted to use what was in the original chart, which is 36-count "Legacy" by Picture This Plus.  The threads are a combination of Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Arts, and DMC.  Now I have to look for a frame!

Thoughts on the Camptown Races Cowl

I should put exclamation marks in the title.  Camptown Races (Sort-of) Cowl!! Finally!!

I don't remember when I started this, summer of 2021 is the closest I can get, as I well remember knitting during Zoom meetings and usually having to rip out large portions afterwards since I'd get distracted and lose my place.  It's only partly the Camptown Races pattern because of course I didn't need to work any stripes, the yarn doing it all for me, sometimes handsomely, sometimes crazily.  The yarn is "Gluttony Sock" superwash merino/nylon blend from Forbidden Fiber Co. in the "When Presents Explode" colorway.  It pooled and flashed in some strange and not particularly pleasant ways -- why do these yarns always start off so well, then go off the rails?! -- but luckily for me, with this style, I can wrap it up and tuck the weird bits under.  I have had a number of compliments when I've worn it, actually, so that's all right.

I was going merrily along with "Virtue Outshines the Stars" when I realized with a thud that I had mistaken the large dot for the small dot on the old hand-drawn chart, and that the "picot" line down the left-hand side should be gold and the outlines of the large flowers should be red.  Since I had done only one thread's worth of the picot, that was a simple matter to pick out, but I was this far with the flower outlines, and not only was that some hours' stitching, but having filled in the first flower, picking it out might cause a number of problems nearby.  It doesn't look wrong -- unless you know it's supposed to be red, of course! -- in fact it doesn't look bad at all.

And I had made up my mind to leave it, when I found myself the other day picking it out.  As it turned out, it was a bit of a bother, but not trouble, really, as I had feared. 

The next hurdle is that I wasn't sure at this fabric count -- 32 threads per inch, on the fence now and then as to using one strand of floss or two -- if the queen stitches in the border would look better with one thread or two.  I decided on one, and indeed they look quite tidy, although upon reflection they look very delicate next to the 2-strands cross stitches, like using your Denby stoneware teapot with your Spode china cups -- both lovely in their own ways, but rather imbalanced together!  Looking ahead at something else on the chart, I realized that another set of queen-stitch flowers (for this is a Darlene O'Steen chart, the Queen of Queen Stitch!) uses a blended color, definitely two strands, and so one can assume that she meant there to be two strands in the border as well.  Queen stitch is not fun to pick out, but ... oh well.

"Mrs. Campbell" and Another

I almost wish that this had taken me longer to stitch, because I enjoyed it so much!  It is "Mrs. Campbell, 1805" from Hands Across the Sea Samplers.  I love the colors, the rampant and exotic central field -- the garlands of which are ostensibly symmetrical but actually aren't -- contained in an neat and tidy border that would be severe if it weren't for the bright colors.

This is in the DMC colorway, on Zweigart Newcastle linen (40-count) in "Antique White."  I'm still a bit undecided about tea-dyeing this to be more like the original, but I suspect I'm going to leave it as it is now.  (If you're curious, you can see the original sampler in an old Barneby's auction listing here.)

This is the first sampler from Hands Across the Sea that I've worked, and to be honest, I don't really like the beautifully-printed and spiral-bound booklet that the chart comes in -- while the small pages allow for a large image of each section of the chart, there are too many sections -- twenty, in this case, not even counting the key -- which necessitates a lot of flipping back and forth as one stitches, and the spiral binding, while it lies admirably flat, prevents the heavy-paper pages from flipping easily.  I managed it well enough on the border and alphabet, which are logical and relatively intuitive, but when I came to the central field I soon scanned the pages and cobbled together a full chart that let me carry on in any direction to finish a particular leaf or flower bud.  Were I to buy another chart from them -- and there are certainly a lot of charmers to be had! -- I would probably simply buy the PDF version.

Alas, nothing is known of Mrs. Campbell, except that we can assume, partly from the fact that she was not a schoolgirl and partly from the admonitory motto, that she was a teacher in Oban.

The little parrots are delightful!

I made a slight wobble here, putting the "c" in "clean" one space too close to the "l" -- since I happened to be working it from right to left, this put the next letters one space off as well, but once I noticed it, about halfway along, I started the "K" in the correct spot.  The lower-case letters being worked over-one, they are a pain to pick out, but I would have done so if they hadn't been in red -- I had had to pick out a few stitches somewhere in "Mrs Campbell Oban" and the red thread left a rather obvious "stain" of red fibers -- and so I decided -- pace Mrs. C -- to leave the "c" where it was.  I think it's almost unnoticeable ...!

A pleasure from start to finish!

And then -- I admit, the moment "Mrs. Campbell" came out of the frame -- because I've been saving this, my sine qua non of counted-stitch samplers, Darlene O'Steen's "Virtue Outshines the Stars" ...

Mrs. Campbell and Friends

"Mrs. Campbell, 1805" by Hands Across the Sea.  I started this just before New Year's and am enjoying it tremendously -- amused at the same time that I looked at it a bit askance for a while after first seeing it, for Mrs. Campbell's rather severe motto "Keep your work clean and pay Attention to it".  Clearly a teacher! and a stern Scottish one, too.  But, to be honest, I love the fact that she has fit everything in so neatly -- solving the eternal Corner Problem with a clever and pleasing arrangement -- and that while the border "flowers" are strict and orderly, even with the colors repeating in the same order on all four sides, the center field is a nearly-riotous pair of leaves-and-flowers garlands with brightly-colored little birds -- a calm and reserved outside with a playful inside.  I get that.

It seemed obvious to me, after working a couple of Darlene O'Steen's designs, that the border lines should be in alternating backstitch, although the chart makes no distinction and so presumably indicates simple crosses and backstitch.  (The back of Mrs. Campbell's original seems pretty clearly to show that something is different between the three-stitch sections, but it certainly does not look like backstitch, to be sure.)  I enjoy the rhythm of alternating backstitch, though, and so it did not feel that I was doing Mrs. Campbell a disservice at all (!) to work it that way.

Completely coincidentally, I had just bought a piece of the recommended linen, "Woodsmoke" by Tabby Cat Linens, but it is quite brown, where the Hands Across the Sea image looks much more to be of a rather yellowed linen.  Try as I might, I could not picture this on a café-au-lait brown, and so I bought a piece of Zweigart "Antique Linen," a lovely off-white, thinking that my coffee-dye experiments with "Zoé Elie" were quite successful, and I might put the finished "Mrs. Campbell" through something similar.  I'm liking the DMC colors quite a lot, though, so I might just leave it as-is.

And the "Wisdom Sampler" is now back on a frame as my long-term WIP.  (I have in fact finished the "Quaker Virtues" that was in this frame, but can't get the photos from my phone yet ....) --

I managed to get two more things actually framed for hanging -- I can work the samplers much more quickly than I can get them framed, certainly.  Jane Jameson's charming-if-scruffy 1830 original is now in an "oops" frame that Laura brought home for me from work.  I had already archival-mounted the sampler on a cotton fabric-covered board, thinking to someday have it framed fairly close to the edges of the stitching, as so many historical samplers were, but a free frame was too good to turn down, especially when it was the right proportion and not a bad fit aesthetically either.  I really wanted to get this under glass and away from the elements as soon as possible, and so Laura and I went to Michael's one day and the framing clerk suggested this dusty-green mat and Laura suggested the float-style mounting -- good choices, both.  The other sampler is of course my "Lady Floral Brittany," now in one of the three antique frames I bought a few years ago with my birthday money -- wish I could have bought more of them, they were all as beautiful as this one.