Our Friends' HAED SAL: Yoyo says Hello

Monday, March 2, 2009

Yoyo says Hello

Hello fellow stitchers. I'm Yoyo, I have a real name but have been called Yoyo for more than 50 years, so that will do fine. I am almost embarrassed to enter this blog with my little tiny Storykeep. But I have been working on this for a very long time and I feel like I'm getting no where. In the past I've done several Teresa Wentzler pieces so when I purchased my first HAED's I just figured they'd be like the TWs...but for me that just isn't the case. I will admit though, that I'm much older now and do have a lot more trouble with my eyes than when I was stitching Peacock Tapestry.

I'm working on my first HAED, Atlantis Storykeep, artwork by Selena Fenech, and have two more Storykeeps and Cindy F.'s Santa in his Study in my stash...which up until this blog came along I had almost decided would never see the light of day. But hopefully, forcing me to publish continuing progress may change my mind on that score. You'll notice in my photos that I have gridded my fabric. I actually had stitched about 65 rows before I decided to do that. If any of you are older like me, I will highly recommend that you take the time to do it before you start. I had several visits from the ubiquitous frog before I did that. Gridding the fabric made a huge difference for me, I have not misplaced one stitch that I know of since I did this and I really seem to be moving along a lot faster (read with a lot less frustration!!) than before. So, here is my first photo. I don't count stitches or hours, but I can say I'm about 45% done because of the number of rows in the project. I'm eagerly looking forward to watching all your projects. I have already learned that I should have done this with only one strand of floss (it's DMC 2 over 1 on 25 ct linen) and I'm sure I'll pick up more tips along the way. Thank you all for sharing your projects, I really enjoyed reading all the previous posts.

Happy Stitching,

My blog: Dragon My Needle
Home of the Totally Useless SAL, come join the fun!!

bca

6 comments:

Mich said...: Beautiful work also, and what a good idea with the gridlines !! I'm at that age now that I feel that my eyes need some more time to switch between my handwork and watching up to see tv, so I must remember this tip also, when my eyes go backwards some more.

Great to see that you have more HAEDs in your cabinet, I promise that we will be cheering ;-)); March 2, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Cindy F. said...: Yoyo! It's gorgeous! You have so much already stitched:) Thank you for the gridding advice. I have been wanting to try that as well, and may still end up doing it.
I started off stitching 2 over 1 on my linen, but it was too bulky...so I went back to 1 over 1.
But my next one will be on evenweave or aida since you can't see it anyway! My Dublin linen is just too soft handed and the floss gets lost constantly, so it takes me longer to stitch! I appreciate any and all advice:); March 2, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Caroline said...: Lovely design - glad to be stitching along with you!; March 2, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Wendy said...: Great design! Might think of griding mine too!; March 3, 2009 at 12:08 AM
Suzie said...: Yoyo, you have made quit a bit of progress on your storykeep, and I'm loving the image!

Thank you so much for sharing it, and I'm so happy to see another gridder in the group! lol; March 3, 2009 at 3:20 AM
Terri said...: Looks great so far. I love it; March 7, 2009 at 4:25 PM

Tutorials

How to Carry Threads
This is really easy...it takes a while to get used to though....and your back will look terrible...this you will have to live with...One thing...You will be working your 10 x 10 grids in colums...it makes it easier...
1. Start with a 10 x 10 grid..
2. Find your first symbol...and stitch all of that symbol in your 10 x 10 grid....When finished...
3. Find the same symbol on the 10 x 10 grid below it...take your needle and bring your thread up like you are going to make the first 1/2 of the X ...but don't do it...just unthread your needle and lay the thread down..
4. Go back to the first grid you were working on...and stitch the next symbol the same way....when finished bring your thread down....
5. continue each symbol until your first 10 x 10 grid is finished....
6. start the next 10 x 10 grid ....you should have thread there already for you to pick up and stitch...
Posted by Vickie 3/7/2009

Tent Stitching (Wikipedia)
Tent stitch variants
There are three types of tent stitch, all producing the same appearance on the front of the canvas but each worked in a slightly different way and having particular characteristics, uses, benefits and drawbacks. These variants of tent stitch are known as basketweave, continental and half cross tent stitches:
Basketweave tent stitch - The basketweave form of tent stitch is worked in diagonal rows up and down the canvas. The yarn on the back of the canvas has a typical basketweave appearance, with alternating horizontal and vertical stitches. Basketweave is the best stitch to use for covering large areas of canvas as it does not distort the canvas as the other two forms of tent stitch do.
Continental tent stitch - Continental stitch is worked horizontally or vertically across the canvas. On the back of the work, the stitches appear diagonally across two threads. This method uses more yarn than half cross stitch tent stitch but is more hardwearing.
Half cross tent stitch - Half cross stitch is worked horizontally or vertically across the canvas. On the back of the work, the stitch appears vertical or horizontal, not diagonal, and crosses only one thread. This method uses less yarn than other stitches but is not very durable as coverage on the back of the canvas is a little thin.