Turnberry Ridge: Tent Stitch

I have progressed on Turnberry Ridge to the tent stitch (aka basketweave) in the middle of the piece. At first, this was a very interesting endeavor as a seemingly simple stitch is quite complex in execution, mostly from a planning standpoint. I was very cautious in starting and fortunately have not seen any canvas warping that apparently can come with tent stitch even when correctly done.

However, I have found, now that I have the basics down, that it is a pretty boring stitch to me. I greatly admire people who can do entire canvases in tent stitch because I. Would. Go. Insane. As a result, I've been focusing on knitting more than needlepoint recently, I think. I need to buckle down and get through it, as it looks like the following stitches are going to be really fun.

Turnberry Ridge: Four-Way Continental

I finished the Four-Way Continental around the inner diamond of Turnberry Ridge. Although I started out using a vertical orientation for stitching, I moved to a horizontal one, as I found it much easier to manage against all the diagonals and stepping eyelet stitches. It looks good and I finally got the hang of managing the tension of Fiesta -- I don't have any actual lessons to impart there other than to be firm yet gentle. Helpful, eh?

The next stitch I am working on is framing the eyelets. I believe it is a back stitch. The stitching guide provides for fully framing each eyelet in a square before moving on to the next one, but I found that that involved a lot of carrying of thread across the back of the work (through the gobelins, an overworked row of stitches if there ever was one). Instead, I've modified the instructions to do the back stitches down a cascading step, framing two sides of each eyelet on the way down. Once I've completed on cascade, I start at the middle left and do the stitches down the other sides of the eyelets, making them completely framed. I am still able to follow the stitching guide, just in longer lines of stitches without any carrying of thread. Since this is also in Fiesta, it is very helpful for managing the tension, as I think every time I have to carry it, it slips somewhat.

I am only a quarter done with the eyelet framing. I am very anxious to make progress, as I received the first batch of Jim Wurth's Dodecahedron kits and am dying to start those too!

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!

Turnberry Ridge: Eyelets

I have been working on Turnberry Ridge and I have to confess -- I have deviated from the stitch order presented in the booklet. I skipped two of the corner triangles done in Neon Rays for two reasons:

- I love the look of Neon Rays but was getting frustrated working with it. I decided to move on to something I felt I could be more successful with to rebuild my confidence and then go back.
- The two remaining triangle patterns are not as appealing to me. Granted, I can substitute patterns in here, but I really want to experience all the stitches in the project.

Instead I have been working the eyelet stitches. These stitches use a very light-hued, lightweight thread but still standout quite well (although not so much from a distance). I thought they would be a snap but since each one is made up of about 12 sub-stitches, it actually takes quite awhile (and quite a few lengths of thread).

I am not quite done with them but my next effort will probably be to weave in the ends from all my away knots. I usually let them build up quite a bit -- unless they are very dark colored threads) in the hopes they will gradually get buried as I work further. Sometimes this works out but normally it does not.

Turnberry Ridge

Soon after my last post (okay, it was weeks ago, I am guilty), I received a kit for Turnberry Ridge in the mail from the Needle Nook of La Jolla. I say "kit" because, although what I ordered was the booklet and threads, they actually sent me an email about it and offered to send the canvas as well. Imagine my delight when I opened the box to find not only did they send the right-sized canvas, but they bound it AND attached a needle to it. The threads were all carefully collected into a ziploc bag with a xerox of the thread inventory included, and the booklet itself was in another ziploc. I was impressed and thrilled! When I go out for another kit (which may be quite awhile) I will definitely go back to them.

So, anyway, Turnberry Ridge is a booklet by Jean Hilton that was designed/written for a cyberclass and is geared toward the very beginner. A lot of background information on threads, canvas, and laying tools is provided in addition to the pattern. Each stitch has an excellent write-up on how to do it, alternative methods, what NOT to do, etc. It is an excellent learning tool.

The Bucilla kit was carefully packed away so I can pick it up again if I want to, but I'm really focused on Turnberry Ridge. I would say I am about 33% complete. I have only had to rip out one section -- but only because I chose the wrong color thread, not because I really made a mistake.

More Bucilla Kit Work

Last night I continued working on the Bucilla kit. Today I focused on work in wool, completing a satin stitch section and also a second lamppost. The second lamppost went much better than the first. It is much easier to do the split stitch in wool as the wool seems to keep its tension better during the process (or perhaps I got better overnight).

I am currently trying to decide if I should work down or across from the left corner. My inclination is to go across because there is a huge section of satin stitch there, as opposed to the huge section of French and Colonial knots.

I am not afraid to say I will switch to one of the beginner kits I have on the way -- I am really looking forward to Turnberry Ridge by Jean Hilton. I can only hope they come this week!