Our Friends' HAED SAL: Another First HAED!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Another First HAED!

I love the stories about everyone's first HAED's which reminds me a lot of my first HAED which was Chessie (and still is since he's not even close to being done!). I used to stitch a long time ago after I broke my ankle. It gave me something to do so I wasn't just stuck sitting in bed all day long. I soon discovered that I really loved it, but then I lost my stitching bug for a really long time. It was around September of 2008 that I discovered the best cross stitching forum that I still frequent to this day. They really inspired me to start stitching again and pretty soon I discovered the HAED website. I browsed through nearly every single design before coming across Chessie and he just made me smile because he was so bright and goofy looking. I bought the chart at the end of Septemeber and kept telling myself I would start him except I had never stitched anything that wasn't a kit. I was a bit afraid to buy 25ct fabric so I settled on a 22ct evenweave, bought all the threads and started stitching right before christmas! By New Year's day I was so aggravated by the fabric that I made the OH take me to Michael's so I could buy some 18ct aida. And Chessie was restarted on January 2nd. Unfortunately I haven't made as much progress on him as I would like. I quickly learned what confetti stitches were and boy did that set me back! But as I was coming to the end of 2009 and of course reading all your lovely stories, I've decided to bring Chessie back out! I look forward to showing all of you his goofy smile one day!

Happy New Year's to you all!

~Kerri~

3 comments:

Annie Bee said...: Kerri I look forward to seeing some pics of Chessie. HAED's are a huge learning curve.; December 28, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Joke said...: Kerri, Chessie is worth all the effort you can put in her! So don't be in a hurry, be patient and once you will finish her. Posting a picture of her in this blog might help stay motivated LOL; December 29, 2009 at 2:49 AM
Sabine S. said...: I'd love to see Chessie! Seems we all learned something from our first HAEDs, but also they helped us to step off the deep end and start more and more HAEDs! Someday when we finish these firsts, they will mean the world to us.
Sabine; December 30, 2009 at 4:12 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.