Our Friends' HAED SAL: Introducing myself

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Introducing myself

Good morning everyone. My name is Kathy A. and I am 56 and I live in Ontario, Canada, not far from my BFF Beatrice, who introduced herself earlier.
I have been an avid stitcher for over 20 years. Beatrice' mother, Adriana, who is now 92 and still stitching, was my teacher. She stitched a Lavender and Lace "Nantucket Rose" for me and said that from here on in I would have to do my own stitching. I was hooked.
I have been stitching madly since I retired in 2001 with my DH. I belong to a large stitching group in Canada that keep me inspired and enabled. In the winter, my DH and I winter in Southern Arizona. My stitching community then focuses on the internet since I have not found a single stitcher in my area!!!
Several months ago Beatrice and I were surfing the web and we came across HAED designs and immediately fell in love with them. We both purchased one and I spent the last few months gathering all the required threads for the both of us. What a collection of threads and colors we have.
I started my HAED on Thursday thanks to this blog and all it's inspirations. Here is my HAED

Peacock's Lagoon

and here is my progress after 3/12 hours and 250 stitches.

I am stitching on 25 count antique white Lugana 1 over 1. I can see this is going to take a while. I think I will consider this my ten year project.

You can check out my other stitching projects on my blog. www.kathyssitandstitch.blogspot.com

Till next time
Kathy

9 comments:

Cindy F. said...: Yay! Welcome Kathy! We're so excited you and Beatrice have joined us! Girl, I know your stitching and how dedicated you are to your pieces AND how fast you stitch...this will definetly not take you 10 years! You've picked a gorgeous design! Congrats on a great start:); March 14, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Nancy said...: I know it seems like it will take forever, but it really doesn't. Once you get into a rhythm with the 25ct, it flies!; March 14, 2009 at 1:40 PM
Carolyn NC said...: Welcome Kathy! Great start to this, too!; March 14, 2009 at 1:55 PM
Melissa33 said...: Oh my, now I'm so tempted to pull out my Peacock's Lagoon to start it. Must. Resist. The. Urge. LOL.

I've been determined not to start another new project until I get one off my WIP list but just seeing that others are working on it makes me want to start....; March 14, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Angie said...: This is a beautiful pattern, looking forward to seeing this as it is stitched.; March 14, 2009 at 5:06 PM
beth said...: Pretty start! It's a beautiful design, and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on it!; March 14, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Annie Bee said...: Kathy I just adore this piece and I look forward to watching your progress.; March 15, 2009 at 1:23 AM
Wendy said...: Yeah!! Welcome Kathy to our blog!
That is such a great design you have chosen. Great start too! Can't wait to see it grow.; March 15, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Maxine said...: You've made a great start Kathy and on such a lovely design too :); March 16, 2009 at 11:11 AM

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.