Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The wearing of the (teal) green


The first thing to be stitched on the Port Dalhousie lighthouse canvas was the tower itself. The siding is best described as vertical clapboards, so I worked this with DMC white cotton floss in alternating rows of tent stitches and vertical gobelin stitches over two threads.

Then I couldn't resist: I had to add a little of the teal green! The best color match was DMC floss #3848, which I stitched in a series of gobelin stitches to form the door. The base of the lighthouse was worked in a Nobuko stitch, with shading provided by DMC floss #3847 in tent stitch around the ladder and handrail.

On to the sky, which I'm needle-blending from the horizon up with the canvas turned upside-down. I started with four plies of DMC #3841, adding one ply of DMC #3325 in a 3/1, 2/2 combination so far.

I hosted the December meeting of our local needlework group yesterday--an atmosphere not conducive to needle-blending, with little plies of floss lying around--so I switched to DMC #5 perle cotton to work the foundation of the marina upon which the lighthouse sits. The concrete deck was formed by a gobelin stitch over two threads with #644. The blocks of stone underneath it were worked in a Scotch stitch variation in #414 perle cotton framed by #413 perle cotton.

Now that my social obligation is over, I can go back to needle-blending the rest of the sky and return to my favorite teal green floss to finish the base and work the lantern room!

2 comments:

Possibilities, Etc. said...

As always, amazing work on such a small piece, and teal is my favorite color. I like the texture of the perle cotton on those blocks under the light house - it makes a difference.

Edy said...

GORGEOUS - a usual!