And now she has two!

Yes, all, that's right.  My fairy finally, finally has two wings:

Fairy Second Wing

You can see the work in progress here (WIP in stitcher's terms) with all of the many veins that a wing as gossamer-y as hers should have.  And as I've mentioned in other posts, the blank areas in the first wing are going to be filled in with beads.  I do hope I have enough!

And yes, I have muttered under my breath these past few months how much I dislike metallic threads.  "Dislike" being the public word, since I do carry this product on my website and should probably stand behind it.  But it is a pain to work with it, every stitcher knows this, and it lends a shimmer to this project that these photos just do not show.

So as time has progressed this year (and I see I'm repeating myself in lapses of January-June), I have almost totally completed the second wing:

There she is, in all her glory.

It's times like this that I can't believe I've stitched something this intricate and beautiful and just gaspingly gorgeous.  Really.  I can't.  I only have a brief time on weekends to stitch this piece, in part because evenings are taken up with reading and making dinner and other projects.  And truth be told, even if I sat down in the evenings and worked on this piece with the magnifier, I know I would not have the patience to finish anything metallic.  Not.  At.  All.  In fact, this morning, while drinking coffee out of the new mugs DH bought for our wedding anniversary, I had a new piece of thread + metallic that I had just switched to the double-ended needle, and wouldn't you know, it snapped.  Not the DMC thread, mind you, but the filament around which the metallic glorious-ness is wrapped.  Imagine what would happen if that took place while I was ignoring dinner preparations around 7-ish on a work night . . . better not.  Leave it to say that I would not be a happy camper.

So I should have both wings finished by next weekend, beads excluded, and shortly you will see the continuation of these pretty vines and flowers and berries behind her.  Then when those are finished, my fairy comes off of her frame and I will stitch the beads with the fabric in-hand.  I do have a frame that attaches top-and-bottom, rather than on all four sides (called a Rolaframe), guaranteeing not to smush the glass beads, and I'll use that set-up if the fabric begins to get wrinkled or too difficult to handle with the bead container and needlework.  Pick up a bead with the needle, try not to spill the beads . . . that sort of thing.

Enjoy your summer, and happy stitching!

She finally has a wing!

Yes, that's right, you saw it here first:  my long-time stitching project, a Mirabilia fairy from the mid-90's, finally has her first wing!  I'm so proud!

My fairy's first wing!  I'm so proud.

You'll notice that there are still some areas that are unstitched in the photo.  These are the veins of the wing, and beads will go there.  Pretty, shiny, sparkly beads.  This will look gorgeous when complete.  All light and airy.

Another thing that lends this wing an ethereal nature is the selection of colors.  Yes, the primary part of the wing is white, but the shading is done with 3 different shades of floss and one strand of metallic thread.  So you have a gradual changing of color rather than a sudden drop off in the shading.  You can see the contrast between the white part of the wing and the darker parts, but to determine one darker shade from another is not that easy to do from a distance, and even when stitching it the lack of contrast leads to more counting than normal.

The wing, as you may not be able to see from this photo, is stitched with 1 strand of DMC floss and one strand (it only comes as a strand) of Kreinik Blending Filament.

Which is a bear to work with.  Just ask Webmaster Bill:

"What do you have to listen to every time I sit down to stitch?"
 
"I hate metallics!!"

He's right:  I do.  They're difficult, they're cranky, and they drive me (and almost every stitcher I know) around the bend.  Why?  Because the Blending Filament, the first metallic on the market from way, way back, is simply that:  a teeny, tiny strand of a floss with a teeny bit of metallic wrapped around the filament.  So as you stitch, the metallic comes away from the thread filament and the entire piece begins to shred.  Has to do with friction.  One of those laws of physics.

There are a few suggestions on the market for dealing with this shredding of metallic.  The first, from the manufacturer, is to stitch with smaller pieces.  I find that method to be, well, unworkable.  Just as you begin to find your way on the pattern and really make some inroads, it's time to end your thread and start a new one.  And you find that you use more thread than you would if you stitch with a normal length of thread.

The next suggestion, also from the manufacturer, is to make a loop knot at the end of the thread where it comes out of the eye of the needle.  This is an excellent suggestion and really deals with the problem inherent in the product.  With a knot (not a double knot or anything really tight, just a simple one-over loop knot), the friction between the metallic thread and the fabric is greatly minimized and there is less fraying.  Granted, it takes a little longer because once you thread your needle, you have to take the time to make the quick loop knot before you can begin stitching.  But it saves a great amount of time on the stitching end, and all that you need to do is check your loop knot from time to time.

What I've been doing while I stitch is closer to the latter suggestion.  Since I'm using a frame and a lap stand, I can use a Twin-Pointed needle that really makes a world of difference.  The eye of the needle is in the center of this looong embroidery needle, and the eye is in the center.  Having the eye in the center means that you can rest one hand on the top of the frame and the other hand at the bottom.  No more turning of the wrist!  No more one hand only working!  Both hands work, the stitching (except for metallics) goes much faster, and the top hand uses a laying tool.  I truly like having a laying tool, as it allows my stitches to all look even, and prevents the top of the "x" from all going in one direction.

So, off to finish the second wing in the new year!

My Fairy Will be Getting Her Wings

. . . just not this year.

You see, when I picked up this blog posting idea to keep everyone up to date on the beauty of my Mirabilia fairy's wings, I thought this would be the perfect time to finish her.  While stitching with metallic thread is the bane of any stitcher's life, once I got the hang of stitching the outlines from dark to light, then mindlessly stitching the inside with white and metallic, why not set this as a goal for the year?  Why not end the year with a completed large piece of cross stitch?

Ah, the joy of finally having her finished and stitched, every single little stitch.  Every one.  I have weekends more or less free, and I have a magnifier I use when I stitch her with my contacts in.  Why not decide that now, finally, I can finish her and not hoard her as only a stitcher can?

Well, the answer is somewhat simple.  First there was the section of wing where I had to thread the needle 2-3 times each row.  Seriously.  And it was not the metallic that was giving the trouble - it was the white cotton thread.  Which is understandable if you think about how white is bleached and then bleached some more, it is perhaps a little less durable and a bit more persnickety.

So that's one excuse.  That was along about September, when these pictures were taken:

These are the outlines of the wings taken around the 4th of July.

This is the part that requires counting and caffeine; the filling-in part, 

not so much.

 

This is that same section filled in right after Labor Day weekend.  

I also extended the LH section up a little bit.

This wing is coming along nicely.

So yes, given all this progress from July to September, the future looked promising.  The fairly looked like she would become complete in a few months of dedicated work, Christmas knitting notwithstanding.

Then I took our lovely new cat, Penelope Lane to the vet for her annual shots.  A bit delayed, I admit, but underemployment will wreck havoc on one's income.  Here she is looking all regal and beautiful:

Penelope Lane surveys her kingdom

Wouldn't you know . . . I happened to mention to our vet as I had to a small circle of friends that we were ready to think about getting a kitten, one to replace our old cat, Cerridwen.  She had passed in July, and I'm very grateful we had another cat to help make our home not quite so empty of cat-ness.

And what did our very kind vet do when I mentioned this new openness in our hearts?

Why, she happened to mention a tiny kitten that they were fostering there, that's what she did! 

And she went even further by bringing said tiny, little, all-black kitten into the examining room and laying him in my hand.  Yes, he was that small.  He was found wandering along a busy street and some kind soul stopped his car (it was a guy), noticed that his leg seemed to be broken, and brought him into our vet because he worked in the area.  This tiny little kitten still had these great big stitches in his teeny tiny leg from the leg pin surgery.

He was so tiny!!!  And he just looked about him like he wasn't sure what the world was all about, and could someone help him, please??

I didn't adopt him there on the spot.  I did turn into a pile of mush there in front of the vet and her technician, and I asked if our names could be added to the list.  Our timing was such that our names were at the top.

So Webmaster Bill and I talked some more, talked to a few trusted friends, thought about some kittens who were comfortably ensconced in a barn and in no danger of busy streets, saw a couple more foster kittens, and then decided that this little stray black kitten was the one for us. 

The vet and her technician agreed.

Of course they would!

And so in mid-October we brought home our new little Peppercorn.  We thought of several names, including Odysseus (husband of Penelope), Othello (too tragic), and Orpheus, the musician who descended into the underworld to retrieve his beloved (also tragic, and hard to say his name).

It's been a while since we've had a kitten.  A long while.  Which says something about our cat-owning tendencies and also about our age.  Playful photos are below:

Lots and lots of kitten energy.  Lots.  And he loves to lie in my lap and chase after bright shiny things. So can you imagine the havoc he would wreck on the bright shiny dangly threads that create a fairy's wings??  Sure, I knew you could.  And so, I'm sure, could the vet.

All this to say, like the popular Irish folk song "Why Paddy Won't be at Work Today (it's the one about the fellow who goes to the job site, loads up the bucket to bring himself to the top, then unloads the bucket and he goes plummeting to the ground; MythBusters did a segment on it years ago), the subtitle of this posting might just very well be:  "Why Fairy Won't get her Wings this Year."  The bell signalling her wings is most certainly waiting till next year, till kitty time becomes cat time and no little black kitten will be tempted to play with bright, shiny threads.

Except there is nothing like a teeny little kitten to provide endless hours of fun and amusement for all concerned, and I'm enjoying every moment I have with a teeny tiny little black kitten:

Pretty Sparkly Wings

Oh those pretty sparkly wings.  On my lovely fairy.  They will be glorious when they are finished.

In case you had forgotten, here is said fairy before I started (really started, that is) on her wings:

Fairy before her wings

All that blue fabric, hidden behind the pattern and going up and up above her head, all of that fabric will soon be covered in pretty, sparkly, metallic thread.  All of it.  Beads, too, but that's another post.

It's a lot of stitching.  A lot.  I try not to look at all that empty fabric, because I know what it all means:  I have to stitch her wings with metallic thread before she is finished.  And my goal is to finish her this year.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike stitching with metallic thread??

It's pretty.  It's sparkly.  And it's a bear to deal with.

You see, it unravels.  It's sparkly because there is a light metallic stitchable thing wound around a light-as-air thread filament.  And yes, you read that right, it's wound around.  There are more recent metallic threads where the filament is braided with the metallic, making the thread less difficult to stitch with.  But that's not where we are.

We are with an earlier design, mid-90's, when designers who were extremely good artists were combining the two talents (not always possible, I might add) and creating works of art.  Many of these works were fairies and angels and they had wide, swooping gowns and wings and lovely faces.  Not to mention the exquisite fantasy characters of myth and lore:  castles and dragons and griffins and unicorns.  All of these designers made extensive use of then-available embellishments:  metallic thread, beads, and new colors of linen fabric.

So that's the backstory.  The designers designed, the stitchers stitched, the stitchers complained, and the thread companies came up with better threads, and the designers designed with metallic threads.  But many of the older designs, and still many of the new ones, call for regular embroidery thread combined with metallic thread, because they give the finished work a look that is unparalleled and will be worth it when all the stitching and grousing is finished.  Combining regular embroidery thread and metallic thread allows for shading and depth for three-dimensional effect on a two-dimensional fabric.

In the meantime, I am spending many weekend mornings being vewy, vewy careful with my stitching.  I make sure that I thread my twin-pointed needle in several steps, and I am grateful that I heard the manufacturer recommend this step to shopowners years ago:  first, you thread the needle with metallic thread using a needle threader.  Then, you tie with a once-over knot the two strands of metallic and filament together in the eye of the needle, as though they were one thread (they are).  You do this at the outset of using that piece of metallic thread because the metallic and the filament are still well-molded together.  Doing this loose knot prevents fraying and unravelling of the metallic thread.  Finally, you thread the same twin-pointed needle with the regular embroidery thread (one strand).

I also insist on using a piece of metallic thread that is as long as the piece of cotton thread that I usually use.  I do not hold with the "stitch with smaller pieces" theory of stitching:  it wastes more thread because you are beginning and ending more often, and it cuts into your stitching time because you are spending most of your time beginning and ending your threads.  It may sell more threads, but it may not because eventually the stitcher will wake up and realize that the theorists are taking up her valuable time.

Once your needle is threaded, you take a deep breath, tune into the Car Guys or relaxing music or a favorite book on tape and begin to stitch.  And you relax.  Because just as you've hit your stride, the knot will come undone or the filament will begin to come apart and you'll need to start the whole process over again, sometimes at the beginning of your thread and sometimes halfway through and sometimes when you're almost finished with that thread or that section.  It's all very random.  And while the intention of all of these little bits is not to aggravate the relaxed stitcher, that can be its unintended consequence.

Once you take another sip of coffee or your favorite adult beverage, or get up for a break to switch out your CD's, you will take a look at the stitching with metallic you've done in that session and in previous sessions, and gasp with wonder at the effect all of your hard work has accomplished on your linen.  Because this is what you will see:

Fairy with wings begun

 
You will see three different shades of thread, all combined with the same shade of metallic thread, creating an upswoop of wings that look completely ephemeral.  Absolutely gossamer, with sparkles and shimmers randomly catching the light.  The shading is difficult, because you're using 3 shades of the same color family (DMC 451, 452, and 453 for stitching geeks) with one strand of a copper-y metallic thread.  The DMC thread is a greyish mauvey grey, and the metallic makes all the colors at first bleary-eyed glance all run together.  But then, I take a sip of my coffee, laugh at the Car Guys, and look very carefully at the swoops of slightly darker threads, and realize where I am in my pattern.  I take a look at where I left my needle the weekend before, and I get out my laying tool and begin to stitch that's day's section.

The fill-in is simple:  I combine white with the copper-y metallic and just sit back and stitch.  As of this posting, the white on the large wing section is complete, I've started on the inner white section (nearer her hair), and it will shortly be time to start outlining more sections of her wings.  I'm continually planning where I will go next.  Onto blank fabric.  This is an exercise that almost needs its own blog post . . .

Enjoy the sparkle, brought to you by thread and pattern designers who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what it means to stitch.  I'm very grateful to them.

My Little Fairy is Getting Her Wings

First, of course, she got her face.  I promised you a while back that she had a face (at least on the paper design), and this fall and spring I have stitched her face and hair and accompanying bits of vines and berries.  Here she is with her face (not yet backstitched, as I prefer to do that in-hand and not on a frame):

Fairy Flora with long-anticipated face

It was interesting coming back to the face tones - I found them more challenging to stitch than the bottom parts of her gown, intricate as they were.  Or maybe not; the gown sections were blocks of color and if you stitched one side of a color, it was easy to add in the additional colors to the side of your first block.  I've included a re-print of her skirt detail below:

Skirt detail with "blocks" of color

So you can see that once a color went in place, the remaining colors went around it and above it and filled in with it.

One would think it would be easy to stitch a face with the same detail and stitching abilities, right?

Not really, no.

Maybe it was the length of time I was separated from my fairy.  They are, after all, amoral creatures and don't take too kindly to neglect.  One always gives the Wee Folk bits of cream, shiny pennies, and the like so as not to fall out of their good graces.  Perhaps I should have taken this advice when I returned to stitch her face after an absence of about a year?  Because you see, I had to stitch her neck twice in order to make her neck swan-like and not boxer-like, and to ensure that her face lined up with other stitching points of reference.  Like her hair.  Or the vines around her brow.  Or . . . you get the picture!

And no, I did not take pictures of said ooopses!  I'm sure many of you reading this blog have had your share of rips outs, starting with the realization that your neck doesn't look right . . . then the bargaining that you do to see if your face will align anyway . . . then the denial that it really won't matter if someone sees it . . . then the anger that, in fact, a delicate fairy does not need a boxer's bull neck . . . and finally the acceptance that results when you pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage that you need to take the edge off, and begin to rip all that work out.  Yes, there are phases to ripping out; and don't they closely look like the ones that accompany the steps of grief??!  I mean, you put all that time, thought, counting, and care into your work, and one (or three) tiny miscounts means that you come to grief and all its stages.  A little adjusted, of course, but still, grief (and some feeling of foolishness) all the same.

Now that my fairy has her little face,  I am about to venture into the scariest part of this entire stitching adventure next to beginning such a project:  the Kreinik threads.  Ah, the Kreinik threads.  They are a boon to the beauty of counted cross stitch, needlepoint, scrapbooking, and even fly fishing (think about it), but they are also a bane to the stitcher.  You see, you have to be very, very careful when you stitch with them.  I am using one shade of Kreinik Blending Filament with three different shades of DMC thread (not at the same time, thank goodness!)  And her wings are enormous - they are easily 1/3 of the stitched area at the top of the fabric.  At least.  And when they are finished, they will, together with all of the beads that will adorn her wings and her hair and her gown and make her magic wand, add a touch of magic and whimsy and not-quite-there-ness that really makes her a fairy.  (Let's face it:  I grew up reading and re-reading different editions of Grimms' Fairy Tales and am currently reading Lord Dunsany, so I'm allowed a little imagination in my stitching realism!)   But all that is in the future.

I remember through all of the trade shows I attended I learned the same advice that I passed onto my customers to make stitching with Blending Filament easier:  use shorter lengths, knot the end of the BF to itself near the eye of the needle, and use a large enough needle to "open" the fabric.  All of which I'm doing (well, maybe not the shorter lengths part, because that means I have to begin and end threads more often and I don't like doing that:  it wastes thread and valuable stitching time), but let me tell ya:  knotting a bit of metallic thread together with a bit of stitching filament to itself near the eye of the needle ain't an easy thing to do!  The thread has a will of its own and wants to just float off into space, on the wings of a fairy.

Using the twin-pointed needles I'm using, like these shown to the left, still involves the extra step of using a regular needle to weave the end of the thread in the back (not knotting it), stitching a cross stitch, then unthreading the regular needle and re-threading the threads through the eye of the twin-pointed needle (I use a needle threader).  It makes the actual stitching a whole lot easier, it really does, and I think it makes the stitches much more even. They don't tend to slant in one direction or another.  But the whole starting and ending of stitching is going to be an interesting endeavor.

I must confess, I did start stitching her wings as soon as I finished taking pictures.  I found 2 of the three DMC colors that I needed in my stash bag, not in my project bag, which is OK.  The needle-geek part of me even knew what those colors look like:  it's 451, 452, and 453.  They're kind of a greyish mauve.  Not quite grey, but not mauve-y either.  They'll make a great color on top of the Twilight Blue linen my fairy is stitched on, with a lot of subtlety and shimmery-ness, too.  And thank goodness I only have one color of Blending Filament to use!  I've got 2 spools, and I hope that will be enough for her wings.  Like I said, they're enormous!

And with all that metallic thread to stitch on my fairy, maybe I ought to take a page from old Irish folk tales and leave a penny on my stitching stand to make my metallic stitching experience enjoyable!

After the metallic thread comes the beading, at which point my lovely fairy will come out of her Q-Snap frame and will go in-hand.  If you look at the frame (plastic PVC piping with plastic bits that snap on the top), there is no way to move her around for beading purposes.  So maybe I'll start with the beading and then if I have to move her I'll take her completely out of the frame.  But the bottom of her gown gets beads, too, and any snap onto the bead will, obviously, break it into many bits.

Will keep you updated on her progress . . .