Ocean Waves: The Finale

Don’t you hate it when you don’t know the ending? Somebody leads you along, telling you a story, and then just stops, and you’re left saying, “And then what?”?

Sorry. I kinda did that. In the early months of this year, I wrote up a number of posts describing my progress on Judy Souliotis’s Ocean Waves. And, like a tease, I stopped writing when I was almost done with the project.

There are two bits of good news. I did eventually finish the project. And I remembered that I left everyone with a cliffhanger.

So, without further ado, here it is:

Once again, this is Ocean Waves by Judy Souliotis. It is a former teaching piece which I purchased from Judy’s website a few years ago. It is stitched on congress cloth with Japan metals, Kreinik metallics, and a bit of couching silk. The ocean spray consists of just a small handful of tiny seed pearls.

The glare in the photo above makes it a little hard to see the details of the center medallion. Is this better?

I think this was one of only two pieces that I finished so far this year. By the time it was done, I certainly felt more confident in using couching as a filling stitch!

Whitecaps on the Waves

Thanks for the compliments on the start of the center medallion on Ocean Waves. I definitely felt more comfortable by the last section of gold than I did when starting out!

And I’m really glad that designer Judy Souliotis recommended starting with the lower portion of the waves, because the whitecaps were doubly challenging.

For these, the first several rows of couching only went around the upper portion of the whitecaps. The tips of the waves needed to be filled in completely when another row of couched threads wouldn’t be able to fit. (Click on the picture to enlarge, and it should make sense!)

After the first several rows, the couched thread started spiraling in to the center.

A similar process was used on the left side of the waves. (This picture was unfortunately taken with the flash on, so there’s a bit more glare.)

One more post, and the finished Ocean Waves will be revealed. Stay tuned!

Japanese Couching: Starting the Center Waves

The center motif on Ocean Waves is stitched using a couching technique traditionally found in Japanese Embroidery. This is the first time I’ve ever tried it, though. The technique involves couching two strands of metallic (typically Japanese gold or silver) with a silk thread called couching silk (of course).

Here’s the first section stitched in this manner. (You can click on the photo for a closer look.) The couching was started at the far left end of the area. I couched along the bottom edge of the area, made a sharp turn at the far right, and couched along the top edge of the area. The area is filled in by spiraling in to the center. The couching stitches on each row are staggered from the couching stitches on the previous row.

The trickiest part of this technique, I found, was turning the sharp corners. I have a couple of books which explain this well, and Jane Zimmerman has posted a very complete description online, also. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture step-by-step photos of the process.

In Jane Zimmerman’s article, she mentions that the couching stitches have to be exactly the correct length, so the couched thread can’t slide around and isn’t pinched. This is a disadvantage of trying this technique on congress cloth. I was generally able to pierce the cloth threads at least once with each stitch, but it’s next to impossible to get those stitches a precise length with this ground fabric. Maybe someday I’ll try it on the silk fabric typically used for “real” Japanese embroidery and the results will be a bit more precise.

Anyway, moving on. This first section of the waves was in a red-gold Japanese metallic. This was followed by an area of Japanese gold metallic, then a section in Kreinik #4 braid, and then two more sections in the Japanese red-gold and gold.

Up next – the silver froth of the waves. But that’s another post!

Background patterns on Ocean Waves

If you guessed that I actually finished Judy Souliotis’s Ocean Waves a few weeks ago, you’d be right. Several of the stitchers local to me have seen it already.

Since I’ve already moved on to other projects in “real time,” I’m unfortunately not going to describe this project enough to do it justice, but I’ll stretch it out for a couple posts. It was a big challenge, and I have to try to give all of you at least a flavor of what was involved!

Before I dig into the next area of the project though, let me take a step back and respond to some of the comments from the last post about the couched border.

• Thanks to all for the lovely compliments!
• Sandi informed us that the technique I used to turn the corner is called underside couching. Thanks, Sandi! I’m going to update that post with the correct terminology.
• Thanks also to Sandi and Sara Leigh for pointing out that 2010’s ANG Stitch of the Month project used this technique. If you want to try it out, visit ANG’s website!
• Elmsley Rose asked about a good source for couched borders. I’m sorry to say I don’t know of one. If any of you do have a book or website to recommend, please leave a comment.
• Sandi also asked what threads were used on the border. The laid threads are two strands of size 5 Japanese metallic in silver, gold, and red gold. Kreinik distributes the silver and gold Japanese metallic in multiple sizes. The black couching thread is a #4 Kreinik braid. And yes, Sandi, the entire project is in metallics, aside from the silk couching thread used to couch the center waves.

Anyway, on to the next section of the project. Inside the border are a variety of non-reversible blackwork patterns. It turns out I took a photo of the completion of the first pattern…

…but then I didn’t take another until all of the rest of the patterns were in place and the couched dividing bands between the patterns were put in!

All of the blackwork patterns are in various sizes and colors of Kreinik braid, and the dividing bands are each several rows of Japanese metallic, couched with the black Kreinik braid again.

On to the center – but that’s another post!

Needlework Nibbles: Silk Purl

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I enjoy trying out new threads and new (to me) needlework techniques.  However, I fully admit that I often will buy a new thread and never actually do anything with it.  Because of this, I was thrilled when Tricia Wilson-Nguyen of Thistle Threads started designing her "Needlework Nibbles."

In Tricia's words:

Needlework Nibbles are small projects designed to let you try a new material that is hard to find or new technique. The new materials are usually one that I have imported or had made to my specifications to allow us to do a type of needlework not practiced very much anymore. Often, these materials may be in short supply or packaged such that they are expensive. The 'Nibble' allows the stitcher to try the material/technique out before committing to a larger investment.

I purchased both kits for the July Nibbles, which made use of silk-wrapped purl, a thread that originally was used in the 17th century, but has only recently been recreated.  If you're familiar with the purl threads used in goldwork, you know that they're coils of wire that are typically couched down or added like beads.  (Actually, I featured purls in one of my very first blog posts.)  The silk-wrapped purl is exactly what it sounds like:  metal purl "threads" wrapped with silk.  I'm not going to go into detail about it, since Mary of Needle 'N Thread already has a fantastic post about the thread.  (Thanks, Mary!)

I can, however, report a bit about stitching with this thread, and about the Needlework Nibbles kits.

The kits contained everything needed to complete the stitching of the project, including needles, and also contained backing fabric to finish the piece as a scissors fob or ornament.  At right is the kit for the Pink Silk Purl Bug, and the kit for the Rainbow Silk Purl Bug is shown below.

Each kit included plenty of the silk purl to complete the design.


I found that the silk purl was slightly tricker to use than regular pearl purl. I used my serrated-edge scissors designed for metallic threads, and while these cut through the metal, the silk sometimes wasn't cut all the way through. I had to keep a close eye on the thread when cutting to ensure both metal and silk were cut before letting the two pieces separate, or the silk would start to unwind from the metal.

Actually, the unwinding of the silk is the biggest downfall of using this thread. In some spots on my finished bugs, the ends of the threads have plain metal showing, and in other cases, the silk is slightly frizzy. In the closeup of the pink bug, you can see both of these: frizzy light pink silk at the point of the right wing, and a tiny bit of exposed metal at the second row in at the bottom of the body.

I'm glad I worked the pink bug, where all of the purl was couched, before trying the rainbow bug. The rainbow bug used couched purl for the head, but all of the rest was cut and threaded like beads.

A very big thank you to Tricia Wilson-Nguyen for making these kits available.  I don't know when I'll use silk purl again, but I'm sure I'll find that it's the perfect thread for something.  By trying it, I now know its properties.  I think it might be interesting to try to use this on canvas, perhaps on a painted canvas, for just the right effect.

Oh - one additional note:  I did not use the linen that came in the kits, choosing instead to use linen twill left over from a stumpwork project.  I've got some ideas about using several of these Nibbles (if they're of similar sizes) in a project together.  Speaking of size, the pictures above are a bit misleading.  These bugs are pretty small.  I worked both of these on one piece of linen in a 5" hoop.  Below is a better picture with a standard US quarter for reference.

Has anybody else tried the silk purl? Can you come up with interesting ways to use this thread? Please share your ideas!

Framed Goldwork

Last night was our local EGA meeting, so I didn't get much (ok, any) work done on my ongoing projects. Instead, there was a program on ruching. It's pretty neat how a few running stitches can turn a strip of fabric into a pretty flower!

Since I don't have any new work to show you, this post will feature the recent framing of my three goldwork pieces stitched over the summer. The same molding was used for all three pieces so they can be laid out on the wall in a column or row as shown, although I haven't found the right spot for them yet. From top to bottom, we have English Goldwork Heart II, Luck of the Irish Golden Shamrock, and English Goldwork Heart I. All three were group correspondence courses from Michele Roberts. The hearts were from ANG and are now retired, and the shamrock is an EGA course.

Enjoy!

An Irish Jig!

Hooray! Happy dancing here because Luck of the Irish is complete!I really like the way it came out, even though I discovered that I made the leaf veins in a slightly heavier gold than directed. That's what happens when I do three goldwork projects back to back - the threads get mixed up!

Now I just have to send this in to the group coordinator. Since I'm doing this GCC through the Cyberstitchers chapter of EGA, the projects go through the mail system more than in a face-to-face group. In an FtF chapter, the only mailings are between the teacher and the group coordinator. The instructions are handed out in a meeting, the projects collected for critique in a meeting, and returned to the stitchers in a meeting. For a cyber group, each of these steps requires two mailings: teacher to group coordinator, group coordinator to stitcher (or visa versa).

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This is my first finish for the WIP-loss challenge!

WIP-loss challenge status: 1 down, 9 to go

Another busy week

No pics today, as I'm writing this on my lunch break. This is working out to be another hectic week, with multiple evening activities. The good news is that these activities are mostly stitching-related!

Monday, I realized I had an EGA board meeting on Tuesday, and I started to get my information together for a report to the board. I'm working on bringing in a teacher in the spring. We had previously narrowed the list of classes down to a select few, for voting by the membership. I had the packet of class descriptions on my desk a few weeks ago when I emailed the teacher for color photos. The good news is that the photos arrived in plenty of time for the board meeting. The bad news is that I had subsequently cleaned off my desk, and I think the class descriptions were filed into the wrong pile, and ended up in the trash!!!! :-( At least, that's the only thing I can think happened to them, since I can't find them anywhere. So, I sent off a sheepish note to the teacher, and only had the photos to bring to the board meeting.

Tuesday evening, of course, was the board meeting - after I got my hair cut.

Tonight is our goldwork group night. I've made some progress on the shamrock. The two horizontal leaves are mostly done, and the top leaf is about half done. I hope to finish the leaves tonight.

And tomorrow is the stitch night at the LNS!

Needless to say, I probably won't have time to update the blog again until at least Friday evening! Thanks for your patience! :-)

More gold and another ornament

Between having to get up to be at work disgustingly early the last few weeks (and hence having to head to bed early) and having something going several evenings this week, it's been almost a week since I've posted! I have been able to make some progress on the shamrock, though. The portion I'm working on now requires each length of gold to be cut to exactly (emphasis in the GCC text by Michele Roberts) the right length before it is stitched down, and this makes it very slow going. However, I think it's looking pretty good.

On Wednesday, I received the newest installment in Jim Wurth's Dodecagon series of ornaments, The Baroness Edie. (Where does he come up with these names? I'm never going to remember this!) Anyway, strange name or not, the colors are yummy. I took one look at them and thought "Easter egg". We have bright pinks, lavenders, yellows, and pale greens on dark green canvas. Since I couldn't work on the shamrock during our sit-n-stitch Thursday, I started the outline for this piece.Today I finally managed to get the goldwork hearts mailed off to Michele Roberts for evaluation. I also received the next installment of the Gay Ann Rogers mystery sampler - the library. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get onto Gay Ann's website right now, so I can't show you what the library looks like!

A padded shamrock

Yesterday I picked up my Luck of the Irish GCC, since I have to turn it in by the end of the month. I already had the outline done, and was able to complete the felt padding yesterday. Tonight I'll start laying the gold threads on top of the padding.

Yet another start, and a challenge!

Last month, I finished the Goldwork Heart II during our goldwork group meeting. Our group meets again tomorrow, and I have yet another goldwork GCC due in a few months, so I'm going to start it! Luck of the Irish is another Michele Roberts design, offered as a group correspondence course through EGA. Tonight I'll be mounting this on the working frame.

When I decided to do this, I came to the realization that this is the eighth project I've started since early May, and I've only finished one of these (Jim Wurth's Arcadia) and one other project (Goldwork Heart II). The others are:

• Blackberries on silk gauze
• Examplar IV from Catherine Theron
• Picnic Hampered! from Kathy Fenchel
• Fantasy Remembered GCC by Luan Callery
• The Ninja Squirrel Sampler (a.k.a. Be You to Others) from Hillside Samplings
• Tuscan Spring HP canvas by Sharon G
• and now, this goldwork shamrock!

And that's not counting all the other WIPs/UFOs in the works!

I need to finish a few things! Stay tuned for the challenge I'm posing for myself to answer this need. It's not the same as "The Wagon" challenge, but it's similar!

Goldwork Heart II

This post could have been titled "I didn't have to ask for an extension!"

When six of us from our ANG chapter decided to take the (now retired) group correspondence courses (or GCCs) of Goldwork Heart I and Goldwork Heart II by Michele Roberts, we decided to meet monthly to encourage each other along. Since the LNS owner (let's call her "A") is one of this group of six, we meet in the back room of her shop. Last night was our monthly meeting night.

I walked in with the heart not much further along than on my last post. I had the outside channel filled in, and half of the next channel. Last night as I filled in the second channel and started on the third, "A" says, "I bet you're going to finish that tonight." I admitted it was an unlikely possibility.

It astonished me that by 9:00 (our normal leaving time), I was filling in the middle of the heart, and just had to finish the little "legs" at the bottom (which are supposed to look like the continuation of the folded over outline from the top). "A" wouldn't let me leave until I finished!! :-)

So, after a total of only about 10 hours on the heart itself (the background took much longer), here it is:Again, the only thing I (intentionally) changed on here from the original was the background.

Now, I'll just take it off the stretcher bars and pop both pieces in the mail to the instructor for critique - by the original due date!

WIP status

Ok, I've been neglecting my blog! I have been stitching a bit, though.

On my Picnic Hampered! from Kathy Fenchel, I've been stitching daylilies and the blanket, and have also finished covering the plastic washer that's going to become a tire swing. Remember how the tree is one of my goals for the month? Well, I haven't been working on that! :-)

Last Thursday I picked up a really cool thread from the LNS that will make a great rope for the tire swing. It's from Rainbow Gallery, and is one from their Backgrounds line. Ok, I actually picked up two: BG3, or "Natural Flax", is what I'm thinking of using for the rope. It's shown on the right in this picture. I also picked up "Natural Linen" (or BG4) which might make great dry grass on the right piece! (And yes, I realize that linen is made from flax, and that calling one thread "linen" and the other "flax" doesn't make much sense, but I didn't name them! :-) )

I realized late last week that my two Goldwork Heart GCCs are due at the end of this month! I checked with the other members of the classes, and nobody else wants to turn theirs in for critique. So, I contacted the teacher (Michele Roberts), and she granted me an extension until mid-August. With this hanging over my head and other GCCs waiting in the wings, I decided to put the picnic away and work on Goldwork Heart II.

If you recall, I've already finished Goldwork Heart I, and, as of Saturday morning, had the background done on Goldwork Heart II. Saturday night I padded the heart with felt and got the outside row of couching laid in. On Sunday, I finished the rows of couching the pearl purl (see this post about goldwork threads), and started filling in the outer-most section. It was amazing how much was accomplished in about 5 hours total!

Goldwork Heart II - background is done!

Over two months ago, I started the background on my Goldwork Heart II (a retired ANG GCC from Michele Roberts). Because I had been doing so much double-running work on a recent finish, I decided to try a different type of blackwork background, done all in running stitch. See my previous posts about this background - here and here.

I'm dancing now because the background is done! This single-running blackwork was actually ideal for the piece, because the gold thread was quite stiff, and I didn't have to turn as sharply as in double running. I kept all of the thread ends on the outside of the background (not ending in the middle of the heart).




After the background was all done, I used a size 12 pearl cotton and did a tent stitch over 2 all the way around the outside, pulling the thread ends to the back of the work as I went. Each end was stitched over at least 1/2", and then cut off. Here's the finished result. I'm not too concerned with how this outline looks, because it will not show when it's framed. This is just a way to tie off all of the ends.

This background is the same pattern on front and back, but it is not in the same place. On the back, it's actually offset by half of the pattern width and height. It's easiest to show this at a corner. Here's the top right corner of the piece from the front:

And from the back:




Now I can get started on the "real" goldwork part of the piece!

Happy Dance & Goldwork Update

Thank you Karen & Cheryl for the terrific suggestion to remove the first heart on the line of personalization! How simple! I did this, and then thought that the names looked like they were floating away from each other, so I tightened up the spacing between the names and the "+". It meant a bit more ripping and re-stitching, but it's now officially done! I'll take it in for framing this evening during the LNS's "open stitch" tonight, since I'll be there anyway.

Last night was also the monthly get-together for those of us taking the goldwork GCC's. I made a bit more progress on my background. I would like to get the background done before the end of the month. I have to finish the horizontal running stitches, but then have running stitches in both diagonal directions. (If you want to see the the intended pattern, check out this previous post.) That's one drawback to non-double-running blackwork - you don't see the pattern until you get it all in! I'm looking forward to seeing it develop.

A Stitch in Time: Toccata Number Two

One of my favorite designers of modern samplers is Cynthia Zittel of The Drawn Thread. This is her Toccata Number Two. According to Wikipedia, the term "toccata" means "to touch" and is typically used to describe a musical composition that is designed to "emphasiz[e] the dexterity of the performer". If that's what Ms. Zittel had in mind for this piece, she did a wonderful job!

I finished this in 2005, and had a wonderful time with it! Some of the motifs were simply cross stitch, but many introduced new techniques and new stitches to educate and stretch the stitcher's experience.

It was in this piece that I used Japan gold thread for the first time - in multiple sizes. (More on Japan gold in a later post!) The larger sizes were couched down for various techniques, including an introduction to a goldwork technique called Or Nue (pronounced "or nu-way"). In this technique, the couching stitches make a pattern over a background of gold threads. Typically in or nue, the couching stitches are simply straight stitches perpendicular to the laid background, but in Toccata 2, crosses are used to couch a pattern, as seen in the picture on the right.

This piece had many other fun bits to keep my interest, as well. Like the gold and perle pulled work "sampler in a sampler":

And a cute potted flower with satin stitch petals and queen stitch leaves (I used to hate queen stitches until Eileen Bennett showed me her method!):






And a wonderful little dragonfly with wings of perle couched with the smallest size of Japan gold:












And then there's the peacock, and the topiary, and the entire alphabet of letters in different styles and sizes, and the row at the very bottom with seven different little flowers, and...

Needless to say, I had a blast with this piece!

Now, the particulars: I stitched this completely from my stash, matching silks of different brands to the DMC numbers listed. From what I can remember, I used Au ver a Soie's Soie d'Alger, Amy Mitten's Fibers to Dye For, and Rainbow Gallery's Splendor. I used a fat quarter of 36 ct Lakeside linen in Light Vintage Exemplar from Silkweaver's fabric of the month club (when they carried Lakeside!). It was fun to shop in my stash for just the right colors!

Blackwork without double-running

Earlier in the week, I mentioned that the new goldwork heart has a blackwork background. The course booklet encourages the use of other blackwork fillings besides the one given. Since Tiramisu is almost all double-running stitch, I decided to try something different. I knew that while most blackwork is reversible, it may not be identical on the back. For some stitch patterns, the back side simply has a different attractive pattern.

A few years ago, I picked up a copy of Ilse Atherr's Reversible Blackwork, book 1, at an estate sale. (Note: This book was originally published in 1978. My copy was printed in 1983. Apparently Ilse has recently released an updated version.) While I've looked at the book a few times, I haven't actually tried any of the blackwork filling stitches from it. Some of these patterns fit the description above - they are reversible, with a different pattern on the back, and not stitched with double-running stitch. Instead, many of these patterns use a simple running stitch, first at one angle, then another, spaced appropriately to build the pattern. I decided I wanted to try one of these.

In determining which of the 36 patterns to use from the book, I carefully considered the scale, density, and direction of the pattern. I wanted a fairly open background so it didn't compete with the heart as the focus, with a repeat that was fairly large (but not too large!), and didn't really provide any sense of direction (some patterns force the eye to see a heavy diagonal structure, for example). And, of course, I wanted to use something other than double-running. I finally settled on pattern D-6 from the book.

This book is great in that it shows how the pattern is constructed out of running stitches, step by step. After I figured out how many repeats of the pattern I wanted in the background, I had to put in a few basting lines so I could make sure to get it centered correctly. I would find it very distracting if the background were shifted left or right of center, especially with such a large repeat. Here's the progress thus far, with the outline of the heart and the background started.

One of the problems with using running stitches is the difficulty in ending threads. This would really be a problem with this thick metallic (it seems metallic, not real metal) thread. I plan on stitching slanted gobelin stitches all around the outside with a lightweight pearl cotton so I can end these threads in this border. The border is not intended to show when it is framed. Many thanks to my LNS owner for this suggestion!

EGA & more

Last evening I attended my first "official" EGA board meeting for our local chapter (Genesee Valley). I'm on the slate for the June election as 2nd VP. Ok - why 2 VPs, you ask? I can't really say why - it was like that when I joined. The 1st VP coordinates the monthly programs, and the 2nd VP is in charge of education. That means I'll set up visiting teachers, coordinate GCCs, and perhaps help with the programs. After almost 4 years as program chair of the local ANG chapter, I've used up most of my program ideas!

The next few months look like busy ones for our chapter:

• April - The local EGA and ANG chapters will again present a joint display at the local museum's Artistry in Thread Festival. This year it's going to be a lot more focused on education and bringing in new stitchers than on exhibition of completed pieces, which frankly intimidates a lot of people!
• May - Our chapter is co-hosting the EGA Mid-Eastern Region seminar in Chautauqua, NY. I'm responsible for coordinating the exhibit. Since the exhibit is only open evenings and at lunch, I'm taking two 2-day classes - Examplar IV from Catherine Theron, and Picnic Hampered! by Kathy Fenchel.
• June - We're taking a field trip to a local museum. The curators are going to host us in a private room to check out about 1/2 of their collection of samplers (which totals about 100). I'm really looking forward to this. These samplers are not regularly on display.

During the board meeting I was able to make some progress on Tiramisu. I've completed the dark section of band 10 that was half-done in my picture from yesterday.

Tonight, our goldwork group gets together. Right now it's the six of us that signed up for both of the hearts. I don't know if it will continue after we're done with these. Since I finished the first heart, I'll be starting the second one this evening. Strangely enough (in light of my recent postings), this will combine blackwork and goldwork, because the background of the heart is stitched in blackwork with gold thread!

So, no pics for today. If I get anything measurable accomplished on the heart tonight, I'll post a progress picture tomorrow.

A bit more about goldwork...

While I was in "happy dance" mode with the goldwork heart (but before I started the blog), I posted a picture on one of the many stitching forums around the net. One of the comments it received was "is this stitching?" I gave a pretty quick answer, indicating that yes, it is, and stating that for this heart, some threads are couched, and others are attached like beads. I thought I might elaborate a bit more here about the threads used and how they're attached. Clicking on the pics will (in most cases) let you see a bigger picture.

(As a side note - do you know how difficult it is to take pictures of gold? The light refracts all over the place, and many times you get just a blur of brightness. Thank goodness for digital cameras and the ability to delete bad pics and play with settings and light until it's right!)

All of the metal threads used in this piece are "purls". They all are constructed like coils of wire, and can be stretched out intentionally for some purposes (or unintentionally, in some cases, as I found!)

The first type, used in the borders of the heart and stretched out for the scrolls at the bottom, is pearl purl. It is shown on the left, and kinda looks like a string of pearls, hence the name. This type of thread is couched, and the couching thread slips between the coils, so you can't see it - or that's the idea, anyway!

The second type of metal thread, used in all three sections of the heart, is bright check purl. This starts out life as a tiny flat ribbon, and is kinked into a coil shape, with flat edges. The result is a really shiny thread that reflects from all angles. It is shown to the right.

To see how much gold thread is wrapped into a very small section of bright check purl, check out this next picture! The two pieces were originally the same size (about 2 mm), but I stretched out the one on the top!
Rough purl (seen at right) is the last type of metal thread used in this piece. This is a very delicate coil that must be handled with care because it kinks easily. It has a matte appearance and can be seen in the outer-most section of the heart.

Both rough purl and bright check purl are cut to the right size (depending on where it needs to go), and are attached like beads, with the stitching thread running through the middle. The picture here is a piece of bright check purl standing on end so you can see that it is hollow. The rough purl wouldn't cooperate and stand on end, though, so you'll have to take my word on it!

When I get to the second goldwork heart, I'll be sure to post about any "new" threads I discover there!

Goldwork Heart I

This piece is an ANG group correspondence course that was discontinued last October. A few of the ladies in my chapter wanted to try it, so we signed up for this and Heart II before they became unavailable. Eventually, we may sign up for the third in the series, now available from ANG. The designer/teacher is Michele Roberts.

The only thing I changed from the original was the use of two pieces of "bright check purl" joining the scrolls at the bottom. The original only used one, and I thought it looked lonely with just one!

This is an example of trying a new technique. I had not done any goldwork before trying this, though some previous projects had called for some bits of metal (not metallic) threads.

While many of you may be familiar with the distinction, I can hear a few of you thinking - what's the difference between metal and metallic threads?

• Essentially, metallic threads are primarily synthetic materials, like polyester, made to shine like metal. You are probably very familiar with metallic threads. They come in forms like Kreinik braids, Rainbow Gallery Treasure Braid, DMC metallic floss, etc.
  
• To be labeled as metal, threads must contain some percentage of real metal. There are different grades of metal threads, depending on the amount of metal content.
  

Kreinik has more information about metal and metallic threads. To read a bit about some of the available metal threads typically used in goldwork, check out Tanja Berlin's notes on the subject.

If you're curious about goldwork, there are a few designers online who offer beginner's kits. One word of caution - I have not seen these kits or instructions, so cannot say anything about their completeness, but these ladies are well-respected teachers, so they must be doing something right! Check out the goldwork sections of the websites of:

• Alison Cole (make sure you go to the bottom of the page to see all 7 pages!)
  
• Tanja Berlin

In my searching while writing this post, I came across another blog with a great post on goldwork. Rather than repeat a lot of what she said, I recommend checking out the Needle 'N Thread blog.