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: