Sampler - Tumblr Posts
I couldn’t work on the Iliad this morning due to lack of working phone to take a picture with, so I worked on this instead.
It took hours longer than cross-stitch, but I like it.
Irritatingly, though, the QR reader app on my phone can’t read this one; and if it cant be read, i’ll have to undo it and rework it until t can. Though I’m given to believe the app I have is rather crap so I’ll try a few more out before undoing those hours of work. (And if anyone else has a QR app please feel free to try reading it and let me know if you have any luck)
Edit: my partner's QR android app can read it just fine, and that's good enough for me. Yay for not having to undo work.
I feel unproductive because I've not managed to finish anything, but here's what I've been working on. This stitch takes so much time. The above represents about an hour and a half's work, and I'm maybe just over a quarter done on this code.
QR sampler update. Letters A-D. Detail of C & D. C was so incredibly time consuming. It would take a lot to convince me I needed to do that again.
A-H (8/36) they all scan. Qrafter is the best free iPhone app I've found for scanning QR codes. I was thinking of making a mini gif-set tutorial for some of the more complicated woven stitches (such as the big squares on E and H), if anyone would be interested.
This one will scan (in person) using QRdroid for android phones, but none of the free iPhone apps I had (Qrafter, Scan and QRreader) can read it. This one (R) is done in a composite stitch - French knots pinned in place by split cross stitch (the two strands of each arm of the cross stitch fall either side of the French knot). I couldn't find this stitch in any of my stitch dictionaries, but I'm sure someone must have thought of it before. For now I'm calling it French Cross Stitch, but if anyone knows another name for it, I'd love to know.
K, L Q, R K is Dutch knot, L is French knot, Q is sorbello stitch, R is French cross stitch. I really like puzzling out how I'm going to group the different types of stitches within the whole sampler. Sorbello stitch is very similar to Dutch knot (the difference is 45 degrees), and French knot and French cross stitch are also similar. All four are types of knot stitch.
This one's P. mountmellick stitch. Te big stitches are Rhodes stitch. In execution, mountmellick stitch is sort of half way between Dutch knot or Sorbello stitch, and an inverted feather stitch (guess which stitch is next?). And a shot of what the whole thing currently looks like, too.
O: inverted feather stitch. The big stitches are vertical weaves. The code above (I) uses diagonal weaves.
A--R. Half way now. An detail of M and N. M might look pretty much like G above it, but I promise you they're different stitches. G is just a plain vertical cross, M is knot stitch/ four-legged knot stitch, where you wrap the thread around the cross before completing the final leg. The big stitch is captive rice stitch, to complement the triple rice stitch of the G above. N is Turkman stitch, and a spiral of my own design in the middle. Let's call it four-legged spiral stitch!
Stitch play. Originally I was just intending to try out the thread itself, to see what stitches the variegation would work well with, and then I just ended up playing with stitch ideas I'd had in my head for a while. Unfortunately, this thread wasn't really the best for some of the chain stitch variations, so I'll probably do those again on another sampler.
Differences achieved by slipping knitwise/purlwise for an SSK decrease, for anyone who has ever wondered. Top left is traditional SSK - both stitches slipped knitwise. Top right is SSK with both stitches slipped purlwise. Bottom left is first stitch slipped purlwise and second slipped knitwise. Bottom right is first stitch slipped knitwise and second slipped purlwise. You can see that the traditional SSK gives the smoothest line. But that might not always be the best style for a pattern. If you're working something that emphasises corners and angles, try one of the other three. SSK with knitwise then purlwise completely hides the second stitch being decreased so it gives a simple step pattern in the decrease. The other two allow a leg of the second stitch to show through so could work with designs where you want to emphasise complexity or a 2-1 rib design, etc.
