Having finished my egg project, I decided to reward myself by starting the ornament canvas for my son that Gail Hendrix had painted for me. There's a lot of white background to the canvas, and I wanted to add a little texture as the letters and flying eagle mascot will be a solid green. I also didn't want to hassle with a lot of compensation, so I opted for a diagonal mosaic stitch for the background.
While visiting my LNS, I got the bright idea to try a new thread for this canvas: Vineyard Silk Shimmer. I'd been very pleased working with Vineyard Silk Classics, and thought the "Cloud" Shimmer would add a bit of sparkle--it has a very fine silver metallic thread running through it that would also complement the snowflakes in the background.
My first problem occurred in trying to thread the needle--definitely not a good omen! I don't own a needle threader for the simple reason I've never met a thread I couldn't coax through the eye of a needle. After a lot of mumbling, I finally got the needle threaded and started to stitch. What was supposed to be a diagonal mosaic stitch started looking like a bullion stitch-gone-wrong. At this point, I had what is called in our family a "Life's too short" moment, and put Shimmer to one side.
Luckily while at my LNS, I had also purchased a cone of Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032 to finish off the wings of my Heart Angel. A cone is roughly equivalent to five spools--not a lifetime supply but guaranteed to keep me stitching for quite a while! Rethreading my needle with the Kreinik thread, I was soon happily setting stitches that did look like diagonal mosaic.
As you can see from the photo, it didn't take that long to finish the background! Then I worked the little cap at the top of the ornament with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V and #002 in alternating vertical rows.
I'll go back and give Shimmer another chance on a project down the road--the thread is too expensive to just pitch! And it occurred to me that there may be a "grain" issue here, making it necessary to pay close attention to the direction of the metallic when threading the needle.
I loves the Vineyard Silk but I hates the Vineyard Shimmer. I think the Silk Lame is probably a better choice for that little bit of sparkle. The shimmer is doable but not worth the frustration.
ReplyDeleteI like the YLI Ribbon Floss shimmer blend for these occassions. It has sparkle, and is so easy to use (and thread the needle). Also - I use the little triangle of paper as a needle threader for contrary threads.
ReplyDeleteGail does wonders with college ornaments. I have one I had her design for my husband! This is looking super, even if the thread caused some trouble. I've started using Bohin needles from France. They make the holes a little larger and I love that.
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