Pages

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Spiders and Rats

In case you haven't noticed, I skipped ahead to the bottom of the canvas.  The guide is not necessarily  written in stitching order.  So I will go back to the cauldron, hands, hair and fire.  Here are some pointers on the spiders.  I think my are a little large, but I'm keeping them.  Just don't get carried away wrapping the spokes.  Then on the legs.  I stitched the top and bottom legs first in order to get the spacing right.  One trick I noticed after I was finished that keeps the spiders looking the same is to make sure there are five green threads between the two bottom legs.   Two of mine have like seven threads but they are still scary.



Now on to the rat.  Make sure to follow diagram 35 for this.  You may have to cover one of the green tent stitches near his rear end to follow the pattern.  That is ok.  Just lay your stitch over it and keep going.  Amy has charted out the face of the rat very nicely for us.  Follow that chart.  After you have finished the charted diagram there will be some silver threads showing to the left of his face.  Go back and stitch these in the background color.  It makes his face really cute and tiny.  And don't forget to stitch his whiskers.

I have not yet added the dreaded bullion stitches for his ears and the gecko's tails.  I am still  practicing them on another canvas.  They may be the last thing I do on all of the canvases!  Maybe I can get a  private lesson from Amy on making bullion knots.

Have a great week!

7 comments:

  1. Peggy and all listeners... do not fear the Bullion Knots. They are so easy.
    Remember, you are wrapping around the needle, plunging & then stroking the belly. Really, it's a Bullion Knot! Each one takes its own personality. You can review Amy's technique on DVD #1. I did 10 of them for Katt Z. Witch. Does Katt Z. Witch have the best manicure? Yes, she had the best I could do that day. Embrace the Bullions. Keep Stitching!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Embrace the Bullion! OMG. What kind of needle did you use?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the way mine is coming along, but I am wondering if others are keeping up. I have been trying fairly hard to finish by the end of the month, but I am wondering if I will. I have never been very good at budgeting my time.

    I love the way the bottom blocks look on yours peggy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don 't worry Kathy. We have 10 more days to stitch Stirha. I am sacrificing my cleaning day on Friday to work exclusively on Stirha. I will not give up reading blogs though! Well, maybe I'll read faster.

    How is everyone else doing? Don't worry if you are behind. The old post will always be available to you when you need them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haven't even started. :( Sometimes life interfers with my stitching. I'm going to try to get busy today, but I might just skip Stirha and move on to Frank when he comes. We'll see how fast I can stitch.

    You all have me terrified of Bullion knots! I once did an entire beard of them.. but they were loose and hairy.. don't know how well I'll do trying to make them even and wellformed. :/

    Off I go to the canvas.

    Jan

    ReplyDelete
  6. I appreciated Robin's comments on the bullion knots. I think her approach on stitching Katz Z. Witch's fingers, i.e., the best that she could do "that day", is a winner! We're all here to learn. Maybe my bullion knots aren't the best and caused some frustration but I really like the way I stitched other parts of this project.

    I will start stitching the logs tonight and once they are done I will have finished Stirha.I've worked steadily on her this month. There have only been a couple of days that I didn't stitch at all.

    One thing that has been very helpful to me is a photo of Stirha that was used in a post in February. When you click on the photo, it gives you a really good closeup of the finished piece. I referred to it often as I was stitching. Do you think you could post a similar photo for Frank N. Stein?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Melinda,

    I will post a good picture. I often referred to the one on Amy's website in the Home Study section.

    ReplyDelete