Heading skyward

My next decisions in stitching this little Lobsterman nutcracker were choice of thread and stitch for the sky background. Keeping in mind one of my goals was to experiment with familiar threads in a different way, I decided to try Vineyard Silk on 13-count canvas. I've used it on 18-count canvas, with beautiful results, and had been told it worked equally well on the larger mesh.

I had originally picked out a skein of Vineyard Silk Tone-on-Tone in the pretty blue shade of "Atlantic." It was a good thing I tried it on doodle canvas first: it wasn't exactly the vibrant shade of blue I was looking for and the variation in color, from an almost baby-blue to indigo, would definitely not work here. It's a lovely thread, but not for this canvas, so I put it aside but look forward to finding a use for it down the road.

I did have a skein of Vineyard Silk Classic "Jewel" in my stash, which was almost a perfect match to the painted background. I stitched this in a basketweave, so as not to compete with the "Big Canary" Nobuko stitch of the slicker--I want the Lobsterman himself front and center! This experiment, too, was a great success: the thread covered perfectly on the 13-count canvas and was as much fun to use as it has been on the smaller mesh. It's nice to come across a thread which provides great "bang-for-the-buck," in that it can be used in a number of different applications.

With the background completed, I pulled some DMC #3 perle cotton for the life preserver, working it in a diagonal mosaic stitch. It provided a good contrast in texture to the Silk & Ivory used for the slicker.

I'll finish stitching the slicker and add the lobster next!