Mardi Gras Mask - Update 5

I ran out of Kreinik #4 Very Fine braid last night. I also misplaced my Kreinik 032 Pearl Blending Filament spool, I think at lunch at a restaurant, so that will have to be replaced as well.

So, since those colors were not readily available to work on the face part of the mask, I moved to the border. As you can see.

Mardi Gras Mask - Update 4

Moving right along. You don't appreciate the effects of your light source until you work with a dark fabric. Sometimes I fly through the pattern, seeing everything clearly. Sometimes I can't seem to see my hand in front of my face. And then the stitches look like squashed bugs.

Mardi Gras Mask - Update 3

I am not sure I am using the Kreinik Very Fine Braid #4 properly. I wonder if I should be using two strands instead of one. The blending filament, for the pattern, is clearly stated as one strand of cotton and two strands of filament. But the braid, I am assuming, is supposed to be two over two, just like the rest of the cotton. I will have to ask the stitching groups I am a member of and see what they think.

At any rate, I am going to have to buy more braid.

Mardi Gras Mask - Update 2

I am not a fan of stitching with blends. This pattern has a number of blending filament colors, and then that metallic fine braid. I tend to pull my stitches tight. The filament and braid tend to shear when I do that, so I am having to slow down. And tearing out mistakes with filament is not entertaining either, so that is making me slow down as well.

Maybe these are good things, in the long run. n the short term, they are annoying. But it is starting to come together after only the little bit I have done.

Mardi Gras Mask - Update 1

So, new day, new project! Actually, I have been pondering making this mask since I saw it in the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Just CrossStitch magazine. I am making it for an old friend who, I remembered somehow, collects masks. This project will be done on 28 count black linen, and includes 5 spools of Kreinik blending filament and 1 spool of Kreinik braid. Lots of greens, yellows, silvers/grays. The pattern was designed by Sharon Pope.

Here is the first section of stitches.

Pelican - Completed

So, I stayed up WAY too late last night finishing the border (and the single irritating French knot) but here it is. The recipients have already seen it and approved. next project is a Mardi Gras mask from Just CrossStitch magazine.

Pelican - Update 6

Good weekend of stitching. I am almost all-but-backstitching away from completion. And a French knot.

Also, he has joined the witness protection program.

Pelican - Update 5

Now the bird has a butt, and some feathers!

Pelican - Update 4

The backstitching portion of this project has officially begun. With the completion of the head stitches, I wanted to get some of the back stitching out of the way. This project has a copious amount of it, so knocking a little out here and there will definitely speed things along.

Pelican - Update 3

Fresh off my trip to Las Vegas for the OAUG Collaborate 14 conference! Learned a lot of interesting things and I am itching to make time at work to get to them.

However, this post is about stitching, and the light at the Venetian Resort, in the room, stunk to high heaven. On top of being very busy with sessions at the conference, the light made it extra difficult to get any quality stitching completed.

That does not mean I have not tried anyway. My pelican, as you can see, finally has a head. I guess this isn't bad for 3 weeks of work.

Pelican - Update 2

So far, so good. Slowing down a bit, as the colors are starting to come in clumps of half dozen or so, or forming long, narrow bands and alternating. But the 28 count fabric was the right call - this pattern has plenty of quarter stitches in it.

Pelican - Update 1

My next project will be the Pelican pattern from the July/August 2013 issue of Just CrossStitch magazine. The design is by Angela Pullen. I will be putting this pattern on 28 count white. The browns in it, to me, look green, and I am having an issue finding where to start again after I stop off since the colors are very very similar to my eyes.

I started the pattern on Thursday, March 27, 2014. I wanted to get a fair amount stitched before posting so it would look like something other than random pixels.