Special effects

Since there is so much white in the Horton Point lighthouse design, I decided I should concentrate my stitching on the tower and keeper's house first, rather than attack the sky as I usually do. The surface of both buildings is stucco, a feature I wanted to highlight in my choice of stitch and thread.

I've stitched stucco before, primarily for some of the Missions of California designs. One combination which has worked for me is a Nobuko stitch using DMC #5 perle cotton. The Nobuko stitch provides the visually rough, somewhat swirly look of stucco; the perle cotton adds the sheen to mimic the play of sunlight on a surface full of nooks and crevices. An additional benefit of using perle cotton is I know the buildings themselves will stand out in relief against the sky, when I later stitch it with cotton floss.

The asphalt roof, window frame and door are a very dark green--what I once heard a Connecticut house painter refer to as a York green--a traditional colonial color. I also wanted a thread with a flat appearance to contrast against the white stucco. Rummaging in my stash, I found a card of Matte 18--a 100% cotton thread--in the perfect shade of green. The roof was worked in a gobelin stitch over two threads; the door is a simple satin stitch.

Now that the shadow lines and window are stitched with DMC cotton floss, I can start working on a fair amount of sky!