Finished!!

I can't believe I finally finished the Central Park piece! The only section remaining was the central cab scene, but there was a lot of detail to be stitched.

The cabs and horses were stitched in black and white Trio, mostly in basketweave, with a little Scotch stitch variation for the horse blanket and blinders. The street lamps were worked in a satin/Scotch stitch in Kreinik #12 tapestry braid - #032 - and outlined in black floss. Finally, the reins were added with one ply of black floss.

I've added a photo of the enlargement of the original drawing (left) so you can compare it with my final needlepoint interpretation. This project was as much a learning experience for me as it was a sentimental journey. I'm pleased with my results, and hope you will be, too!

I'm looking forward to my next project--the design "Nippon Textures" by Gail Hendrix--a subject about as far removed culturally from Central Park as you can get! It also contains something I've been missing for the last six weeks of stitching--COLOR!

Trees!

Only a day after Christmas, I have two trees finished in the Central Park piece! I wanted a lot of texture in these areas to provide contrast with the sections behind and around them. So I stitched the trees in French knots using white Silk & Ivory. This thread may pack too tightly in basketweave on 18 ct. canvas, but it makes terrific, fluffy French knots.

To complete the tree on the left side of the canvas, I first had to work the section of rocks behind the tree trunk. In the original pen-and-ink drawing, the rock sections are much darker than the black-and-white foliage sections. I "test drove" any number of stitches, using different threads, to mimic the cross-hatching of the original drawing--but without much luck. I finally chose to keep the same thread as the background of the bridge--DMC #5 perle cotton--in a simple grid pattern of stitches. The fact that the black perle cotton is a true black, unlike the Felicity's Garden used in the foliage section, makes the rocks look darker. This is another situation in which I've had to replicate the overall spirit of the original art without duplicating it line-by-line.

Another larger section of rocks needs to be stitched, and then I can proceed to the finish line: stitching the two hansom cabs that provide the focus of the whole piece.

'Twas the night before Christmas

"and all through the house, all the menfolk were eating, except for the spouse." I'm too busy creating a black and white Christmas for me, but it won't happen yet--too much to stitch. But I thought I'd share what I did accomplish, before I exchange stocking presents with my family.

I've finished all the water and the bridge. The bridge was a tricky part to cast, because it called for varying shades to mimic shadows. Trying to stay true to the black-and-white pallette, I decided to use a needle-blending technique using cotton floss.

The background of the bridge is stitched in DMC perle cotton, so I needed six plies of floss to make the stones stand out. Depending on the intensity of the color, I used a combination of either 6/0, 5/1, 4/2 or 3/3 strands of floss in a satin stitch. I didn't maneuver the floss--I let it play out of the needle. I'm happy with the result, and as No. 2 son remarked, "It looks like a sketch." That's what I was going for!

"And I have to remark, as I fly out of sight, 'Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Holiday decorating

The stockings won't be hung by the chimney with care for a couple of nights yet, but our holiday decorating has been done for a week or so now. Decking the living room mantel are some of my Christmas-oriented "Eggs for All Seasons," pictured here. Just wanted to assure you that I don't always think in black and white!

Water under the bridge

The last few days I feel as though I've been stitching a sea of white! It's kind of ironic, since there are five inches of snow on the ground outside with more falling as I write. But the water under the bridge, DMC floss in basketweave, is completed under the bridge, enabling me to do some outlining in black and finishing the underside of the bridge's arch.

Also finished are the three sections of foliage stitched in Nobuko with white Trio and the white background of the bridge itself, done in basketweave using DMC perle cotton.

Next to be worked on, between baking batches of Christmas cookies, are the stones in the bridge and the black surface lines in the water.

Adding to the cast of characters

The section of white foliage behind the two hansom cabs, the focus of this Central Park scene, needed to be relatively unobtrusive yet provide a sheen to highlight the cabs. I cast Vineyard Silk for this role, using basketweave. It provides just enough contrast against the black-and-white foliage directly below it and the black skyscrapers directly above.

On to the bridge! For this section, I wanted a thread with a somewhat craggy appearance: something to mimic the look of stone, as well as provide further depth to the foliage behind it. I chose DMC #5 perle cotton, stitching the white of the capstone in a gobelin-over-two stitch, which makes this section stand out even further from the sections behind it. I'm stitching the white background of the bridge itself in the same perle cotton in basketweave. Then I'll go back later and fill in the individual stones.

I'm concentrating right now on getting as much of the white areas stitched as possible, so I can then go back and fill in with the black. I've finished the white Nobuko area on the right and started on the two white sections on the left side. Reaching the right side with my dominant right hand, keeping my left hand underneath the canvas, wasn't easy--my new nickname may be "Stretch"!

There's a lot of water in this piece, and I've chosen to use DMC cotton floss in a basketweave. I don't want the water to overpower the foliage and rocks in the foreground, so I'm keeping both thread and stitch deliberately simple. When I have some more of the water stitched, I'll be able to move on to those areas calling for black thread.

Reflecting on Christmases past

In addition to being a whiz with pen and ink, my father was quite creative at building things from scratch. I recall one Christmas season, when I was about seven or eight years old, my mother was grumbling that she always put the same decorations on the living room mantel. With a twinkle in his eye, Dad disappeared into the basement.

The next day, he asked me if he could borrow a few of my dolls--just for Christmas. He begged some scraps of material and yarn from neighbors, coaxed some cotton balls from my mother--and again descended to the basement.

Three days later, he emerged triumphantly with the newest mantel decoration: a vignette of three carolers outside a shop window. The onion-skin panes of the shop's bay window were back-lit; the cotton snow hid small bulbs illuminating the front. My Davy Crockett doll had been transformed into Lord Crockett, complete with a felt greatcoat, yarn-wrapped hands, and a paper mache top hat. Anchoring the scene in one corner was a street light, also illuminated.

I celebrated this memory of Christmases past in the November 2001 issue of Needle Pointers, the magazine of the American Needlepoint Guild. My "Joy to the World," the featured cover design pictured here, added a few more "dolls" to round out the caroler family and a brick facade to the shop. I don't know whatever happened to my father's original creation, but it still lives on today, not only in my memory but also in my stitching.