Two pieces, finished

[tarnera]

I'm so glad to see this comm is still up and about!

I was originally going to have this update be quite a bit more image-heavy because I was going to post the last six bookmarks from the 12 month bookmark kit all at once, but I lost October, November, December, June, and May. Or, to paraphrase my mother, I put them in a place where they would be safe and not get damaged and now I don't remember where that is. Probably somewhere weird.





First, the aforementioned bookmark, the only one I had left because I didn't have it finished when I was getting the rest of them ready to show off (mostly by fray-checking the edges to the back of beyond, I have a paranoia about fraying). Sorry it's a little blurry, I had some trouble photographing it for some reason.



I just wanted to show off what I did for the dot above the 'i' here. I hate French knots to a slightly ridiculous amount, and I'm quite proud I thought to take care of it this way, haha. I think it works pretty well with this font, too.



And then the ship! It looks so good. I'm very happy with it. I have a little more backstitching to do, just some rigging or whatnot, I don't know sailing lingo. But this particular pattern has very little backstitch overall; the top half of the ship has none at all. I haven't tackled it yet because I feel like it's going to be more tricky than it looks to get the lines to sit just right, but I'll post when I finally work up the courage to finish this beautiful piece, heh.

Comments

[bearshorty]

The ship is amazing!

[tarnera]

Thank you! I really had a lot of fun with it. I've discovered that there were a lot more Russian cross stitches at Hobby Lobby in recent trips, and I'm probably going to do more of them. I love the style a lot!

...the last journal was one of my RP accounts, whoops.

[word_geek]

That ship is amazing.
And I hate French knots enough to have taken a similar approach to single knots. I've also bought beads specifically to use where there are lots of knots.

H

[tarnera]

Thank you!

Yeah, I have a large number of beads and I've used them before on more delicate script. I decided to try something different this time, obviously, and I'm so pleased it turned out so well.

[peaceful_sands]

I second bearshorty - the ship is amazing!

I like your idea for the French knots which I truly hate and can never get to work right - this may prove to be a useful alternative next time I have to attempt one (or a variation thereof).

[tarnera]

I also often use beads, like hsb mentions, as they're a pretty good substitute and I happen to own a large number due to an attempt when I was a bit younger to get into beading. Thank goodness I keep so many things, even if it's often more annoying than helpful! But yeah, that's the main reason I don't like French knots, I can never get them right and they're annoying and fiddly. Good luck with the next thing you do with French knots!

Thank you for your comment!

[retsuko]

Both of them are lovely! :)

[tarnera]

Thank you very much!

[goody_scrivener]

I've done the "safe place" thing plenty of times. Hope you find them!

[tarnera]

...funny story, actually. I was looking through some bags where some of my other WIP/to be started projects are currently living, and there they were. I never would have expected to find them there, but I'm happy my weird brain at least decided to put them in a place that was at least a tiny bit logical!

I'll post pics of them later, when the light is better. They're really colorful and pretty!

[lilacsigil]

Great idea with the dot on the i! I am pleased to see I'm not the only one who has problems with French knots.

[tarnera]

Thank you! And yes, I hate them so much and wonder why they even became a thing :/ Maybe a holdover from embroidery...?

[angrboda]

I don't like French knots either. Don't much like backstitch either or fractional stitch. All of which there are loads of in my own current project, go figure! :)

As for the missing ones, they'll probably be in the same place as our Easter eggs. *nods* (Result; we had our sweets in Easter Plastic Bags this year...)

[tarnera]

Haha, always the way. This particular bookmark actually made me really nervous, because unlike nearly every other one in the kit, it had a ton of fractional stitches. It turned out ok clearly, but I do so dislike them, especially on Aida fabric.

/points up a few comments/ I already found them, I'm still just wondering why the heck I thought that would be a good place to store them when I have so many boxes and tubs to keep my stitchery stuff already.

[serpentine]

I love your solution to French Knots. I read in the other comments that you also have used beads which I also will have to keep in mind now that I have a rather...extensive beading stash. Which is incident part of why I took a cross-stitch hiatus.

[tarnera]

Thank you! And yeah, beads are really good for dots, though whenever I use them again I'm going to try to find a way to secure them better. Just one thread seems a little... flimsy to me.

But yeah, they're great to use! And a large stash is great, you have lots of colors to choose from.

[ghislaine]

Beautiful work! I can't wait to see the completed ship. I love what you did for the i's dot for the bookmark, and I agree, it looks perfect with that font.

[tarnera]

Thank you! I'll see if I can finish it up soon, and maybe find a slightly better place to take pictures so things are less blurry. My room is pretty badly lit so pictures end up dark a lot of the time...