02.28.07
Posted in Free Patterns, Counted work, Needlepoint at 6:35 pm by deRomilly
These two websites came up while I was surfing RCTN (That’s the rec.crafts.textiles.needlework usenet group for those of you not “in the knowâ€) the other day. I found them interesting, given my last post.
The first is a blackwork blog in Turkey. She adapts some turkish rug designs, and very original ideas. Such pretty designs, and so novel!
The second is the scented nectar needlepoint company. She also has charted work. These are mostly round, and what she calls “Sequentially stitched†charts, where the first chart gives you just one color in the pattern, the second adds the next and so on. I don’t know that this is a way I’d like to work, but it’s an interesting concept! Worth looking into, at the very least.
Ah, the things we find when bouncing around the net!
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02.24.07
Posted in Free Patterns, Counted work at 8:14 pm by deRomilly
One of the things I find lovely about geometric motifs in cross stitch patterns is the variety of ways you can use them.
- You can backstitch around them with no cross stitch at all and you have an instant blackwork design.
- You can work them in long-armed cross using the Portuguese Arraiolos rug technique and you have something completely unique!
- You can work them in straight, normal cross stitch without any outlining, and get a lovely mosaic effect.
- You can try out different stitches as filling.. what if you replaced the lines of cross stitch with lines of chain stitch and then outlined over the edges?
- What happens if you use overdyed threads that change color?
Oh, the possibilities are endless!
And on that note, you’ll notice that there were two cross stitch patterns in this post, both also translated to blackwork for you. Feel free to right-click on them and save them to your computer, print them out and use them for personal use. If you want to send them to others, please send them the link to this site instead.
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02.20.07
Posted in Dance Accessories at 9:12 pm by deRomilly
My ten year old nephew is currently in the bellydance class I’m teaching. He seems very keen on the entire thing, which is particularly pleasing to me, as I’m one of the weird ones who sees the dance as coming from the folk tradition, rather than some unknown woman-centric prehistory. I’m not alone in this, as Morocco (who writes eloquently about the use of some of the movements as a birthing aid in Morocco) has as her protégé a wonderful dancer by the name of Tarik Sultan. (He’s also a fabulous teacher, if you get the opportunity).
In any case, The Nephew is very interested in a belt. I think he likes the noise aspect of the whole thing, as well as the moving part. I know men wear the traditional coin belts: I’ve seen them. But I wanted to do something a bit more individual for kiddo. He likes the tassels, but unlike his mother, he doesn’t want ONLY tassels. He’s a magpie. He wants shiny jingly things as well to feather his nest.
So I decided to make him a combination tassel/coin belt. It’s going to take some investment, as coins are not particularly inexpensive, but in the end I think it will be worth it. I’m currently playing with a couple of ideas, including chainette fringe instead of tassels, and all three: fringe, tassels AND coins! More is always better, right? (Have I mentioned that my favorite embroidery techniques come from the baroque era? {grin}). However, I think I’ll sideline the baroque for now, and start with working on a base — I’m thinking red and blue with shisha and chain-stitch embroidery patterns…
Step one: Measure kid’s hips.
Something tells me this isn’t going to be as easy as I first thought…
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02.07.07
Posted in Knitting at 6:15 pm by deRomilly
And already late! But I’ve got a good excuse… I fell and broke my arm on Saturday. But I’m back!Â
Those who know me know, I am not a small lady. I am not petite, though I am told repeatedly that I do not look my size. This is wonderful. I’m five foot eight and a half, and come from good German peasant stock… I’m solid. I was teaching a dance class last week when my pseudo-nephew, trying to figure out his arms, touched mine and said, “You have steel bars!” This is not bad at all.
But this means that my knitting, if I knit for myself, has to be large. It means that my knitting, if it’s going to look good on me, cannot be knit with bulky or super-bulky yarns. I knit loosely, often going down 3-4 needle sizes when knitting. SO I end up knitting huge sweaters on… er… American size 2 needles? (That’s 2.75mm for the rest of you). Socks are the same way, although my tension is tighter in the round, so I don’t have to go down needle sizes so much. I admit: I sometimes break these rules just to knit a giant sweater faster… When I want warm, I don’t necessarily care about stylish, despite what Stacy and Clinton of What not to Wear tell me!
The other problem with this is that I have giant clown feet (many thanks to Wendy at WendyKnits for the terminology…). I can’t complain about knitting socks for my husband, because, while our feet may be slightly different in size, that extra inch in length on him isn’t that much! (And knitting sweaters for him will be much easier, because his chest is 10 inches smaller than mine…)
Giant clown feet for me mean that women’s knit patterns are never big enough: Standard women’s sock patterns are for an 8.5 inch circumference around the foot. A lot of designers also like the short row heel because it’s smoother. Now I’m 10 inches around the foot, in addition to a 10 inch LONG foot. And my heel is deeper than can comfortably fit in a short row heel. Discovering the heel pattern on Widdershins at knitty.com was pure serendipity.
And most men’s knit sock patterns are boring, because most men don’t WANT interesting patterns…(harumph) I’ll never be able to knit the jaywalkers everyone is drooling over without completely revamping the pattern for my giant feet.
But enough whinging. In any case, I’m knitting myself a pair of knee-highs right now. (Why, you ask, if you have giant feet and tree trunks for legs?) Because I’m cold. That’s why. Of course, by the time I’m finished, the trees will be in bloom and the wonderful southern spring will probably be turning to 80 degree, 100% humidity, but what the heck. I’m cold now, so I’m knitting knee-highs. Theoretically, it will get cold next year, too! 
I am knitting them in Patons Classic wool, in the Rosewood colorway. This means that they are striping (kind of - it’s an ombre pattern). It’s also a worsted weight yarn, mostly so it would knit faster, though I’m still knitting them on number 2 needles (I THOUGHT I had fours at work… and just HAD to start them on my break last week…) My feet and legs are going to have horizontal pseudo-stripes in pink, maroon and brown. I plan to wear them with skirts and my Birkenstock sandals to keep my legs warm in winter. Take that, Stacy and Clinton!
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