How random is random?

I've not made a ton of progress on Horton Point lighthouse since yesterday's post. The grass is now finished, using Sheep's Silk in a diagonal mosaic stitch, and the path is laid with DMC #5 perle cotton.

I've also started stitching the sky, using the needle-blending technique in basketweave with DMC cotton floss #813. This seemed to be a good opportunity to answer a question I've received several times: How random is random when you're stitching basketweave using this technique?

I figured a picture was worth a thousand words, so click on the photo and you'll see for yourself!

For those of you who've followed my needle-blending process over several projects, you may have noticed that I sometimes start at the top of the sky and work my way down, while on other occasions I've started at the horizon line, and stitched with the canvas turned upside down. For this project, I started with the darkest shade of blue working from the top down to be sure the thread I choose for the oxidized roof of the lantern room will stand out sufficiently from the sky.

Next I'll start the actual needle-blending, adding DMC floss #827 and finally #828 to the recipe!