Turnberry Ridge: Eyelets, Part 2

I have completed the eyelets portion of Turnberry Ridge and moved onto the four-way continental just outside the center diamond. Jean put a lot of helpful information of things to avoid when doing eyelets in her book. Did I read this information? Yes. Did I actually heed it? No. I am both blessed and cursed by the need to actually make mistakes on my own in order to learn. For some reason, I guess I sometimes unconsciously think I will beat nature when it comes to rules.

The particular problems I had were with the size of the eyelet hole. I was supposed to stop and enlarge the hole while part-way through the stitch in order to assure it stays a good size. I did not do this. By the time I really understood I needed to do this, it would have caused the piece to look lopsided (some holes small, some large). So I learned the lesson but did not really apply it to this piece. Luckily it still looks good.

The other error I made was not paying attention to the direction of the thread when carrying it across the gobelins to the next stitch. This ends up being important because if you carry the thread in the wrong direction, it can end up stretched across the eyelet hole. Fortunately, I only made this mistake one time and it is not very noticeable at all.

The four-way continental I am really enjoying. I am not sure the back of the work looks as good as it is supposed to in terms of stitch placement but I am gaining consistency. The one thing I have learned is that Fiesta! is a very slippery thread, more so than any I have worked with up until this point (perhaps not quite as slippery as Neon Rays). When burying the ends I have to really make sure I turn it a few times while weaving it in. I hope that the one I didn't bury that well hangs in there!