Toned-Down Sampler Part 11

As a preface to this posting I’d like to mention that the link for sending my posts out to subscribers has been disconnected for many months. I have just managed to get the link enabled again. That said, you have probably missed a few of my posts so you may want to check out older dates. Now, onward…

 

I have completed six more one-inch circles on the Toned-Down Sampler.

 

What is there to say about this design? Gosh. It’s. Just. Darn. Sweet. I delight in the chosen stitches that create this tiny basket of flowers and the red metallic thread provides the perfect amount of punch. As always, click on an image to enable a larger view.

 

 

The stitch around the outer edge of this circle is a woven stitch that free-floats above the circle, anchored only on the very edge. The Colonial Knots anchor it a bit so that you cannot see this in the photograph.

 

 

These little circles continue to challenge me. This design consists of 4 rows of Drizzle Stitch on the outer circle with Colonial Knots filling in the center. I could not tell from the instructions where exactly the first round of Drizzle Stitch was placed. That’s because the stitch falls over at least a bit once it is placed. So, was the first row on the outer edge of the circle or was it placed on the exact edge of the circle, allowing the stitch to hide the edge completely? In addition, the instructions do not indicate how many stitches to cast on to create the Drizzle Stitch.  I guessed on both questions:  I placed my initial round of the stitch on the outer edge of the circle and I cast on 10 stitches. As you can see in this photo, the space between this circle and the one on the row above has been eliminated. The more circles I complete around this particular one, the more I am convinced that I’ll be taking the stitches out completely and start again: this time the first row of stitches will be on the edge of the circle and contain 4-5 cast-on stitches. Redoing it will be a bit tedious but I think well worth it in the end.

 

 

The Woven Picot Stitch, here done in a variegated thread, was intended to be stitched 5 times. I felt that 4 was all that little circle could handle.

 

 

Sometimes the challenge lies in the execution of a stitch; sometimes it comes in the design itself. For this circle, the design called for a Double Cast-On Stitch to be stitched in the end of the Fly Stitch. Had I used that stitch, it would have covered the entire end – the “v” shape. Instead, I used the Bullion Knot which fit nicely and provided the same look.

 

 

Just two stiches create the design here:  the Fly Stitch and Colonial Knots. The Fly Stitches are created with a variegated thread that divides the circle with precision while simultaneously creating another design element with the variegation;  the Colonial Knots anchor the lines with the three circles that they create. This design says loud and clear that simplicity can be as beautiful as a complicated, multi-stitch design any day.

 

 

If you are new here and you would like to see this project from the beginning click on the “Hand Stitching” category in the right hand column or go here.