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Helper Kitty Noms Thread!
Jan. 8th, 2010 06:38 amSo, since flying from England back to the United States is setting yourself up for jetlag the "right" way (ie, getting up early, having a leisurely breakfast, getting to check all the daily sites I read, actually seeing my house and garden in daylight...), I've made an executive decision not to try to hard to go back to where I was before. My alarm is now set for 5:30am rather than 7am, and I'm finding it quite nice. I've thus far used the early time to go to the dentist (where I discovered I need a couple thousand dollars' worth of work, but hey it could have been far worse) and to get badly-needed new tires installed on my car. This morning I'm sitting here embroidering. I've made it one of my goals for 2010 to finish WIPs, and since finishing the last tablecloth while in England, I'm still in an embroidery mood and have dragged out my crate of supplies. This one shouldn't take too long, as I picked it up from an estate sale half-finished and it's large cross-stitch anyway, which goes fast.
It's always interesting completing the work that someone else has started. Even though I feel slightly guilty, my first act was to rip out some of the previous stitching. I like the interesting color choice of using variegated thread for the roses... but the leaves should not be the same color as the petals. I think the stitching on this was done by someone who wasn't very good at it; the crosses change direction all the time, they didn't know how to tie a good knot on the thread, and they definitely didn't know how to do do stem stitch. But I'm not going to fix all their work. I'm not interested in that. It makes me think of things like the Bayeux Tapestry, though, where scholars and experts can say "oh, this was worked on by X number of hands..." centuries later. If this piece lasted that long, I suppose in centuries to come someone would be able to say decisively "this piece was definitely worked on by at least two individuals; we can only speculate as to the reasons why..." and write some scholarly dissertation about it. Which image amuses me.
And, for reference, "helper cats" are not in fact very helpful when it comes to embroidery. Kind of the opposite, in fact, no matter what they want you to believe....
It's always interesting completing the work that someone else has started. Even though I feel slightly guilty, my first act was to rip out some of the previous stitching. I like the interesting color choice of using variegated thread for the roses... but the leaves should not be the same color as the petals. I think the stitching on this was done by someone who wasn't very good at it; the crosses change direction all the time, they didn't know how to tie a good knot on the thread, and they definitely didn't know how to do do stem stitch. But I'm not going to fix all their work. I'm not interested in that. It makes me think of things like the Bayeux Tapestry, though, where scholars and experts can say "oh, this was worked on by X number of hands..." centuries later. If this piece lasted that long, I suppose in centuries to come someone would be able to say decisively "this piece was definitely worked on by at least two individuals; we can only speculate as to the reasons why..." and write some scholarly dissertation about it. Which image amuses me.
And, for reference, "helper cats" are not in fact very helpful when it comes to embroidery. Kind of the opposite, in fact, no matter what they want you to believe....
