Thursday, May 10, 2012

It's "Super Moon" Wipocalypse Time...

Did you have the buzz talk about the "Super Moon" last weekend? Maybe this phenomena only happened in Australia. I had never heard this term before and suddenly I heard this term used the media 20 times in the one day! Well I wish this Super Moon had had some gravitational effect on my quickness with this squirrel picture, but alas it hasn't. It's just plodding along. The scrubbing brush is slowly appearing...I want to start on the pumpkins already! Yes I am being impatient.

Well I have come to a realisation.  I don't like stitching my HAED ("LOVE"by Marta Dahlig). Here are some reasons:
* it is really hard to get neat stitches 2 over 1 on 25 count (I am a perfectionist)
* my DMC thread gets very worn and breaks
* I cannot stitch it sitting on the sofa
* it is really hard to end the thread into the back of the tiny, tiny stitches

I think I will not continue it...convince me otherwise HAED lovers or offer any suggestions to get me back on track. I have done about 1/2 of the first page.


On a brighter note I have bought some patterns I have admired for a while -The Prairie Schooler Alphabet and have joined a blog site, The Prairie Schooler ABC Stitching Bee with fellow stitchers. I think I will stitch some of the letters individually especially the "L" featuring a deer - I am so into deers at the moment like the rest of the world. I also think I need to stitch a mermaid so "M" is on my list too. I don't have all of the letters but I am sure I will accumulate them over time.

Thank you for dropping on by and sitting in my garden...

                                                     Jan x

13 comments:

Giovanna said...

You're getting along nicely with the MB. Good for you for wanting to start the PS alphabet - maybe I should join that blog too :-)

lesli said...

ohhhh.....2 over 1 full crosses is really tight on 25 count!!
maybe try 2 over 1 on something bigger, like 22 or 20 count? Or I'd try 1 over 1 on the 25 count. I just finished a the QS Motherhood by HAED on 25 count, using 1 strand over 1 (you can see pics on my blog)
Don't give up, I soooo love how HAEDs turn out!

Carla said...

Maybe not as fast as you'd wanted but your making progress and your MB sampler looks great!
I don't recommend stitching with 2 strands of threads on 25ct. I stitch mine with one thread and I'm happy with the coverage.

Carla said...

Maybe not as fast as you'd wanted but your making progress and your MB sampler looks great!
I don't recommend stitching with 2 strands of threads on 25ct. I stitch mine with one thread and I'm happy with the coverage.

Linda said...

Great progress on MB piece. I love the PS alphabet and have them all. Started X several years ago but not finished.

Linda

Jan Gartlan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chelle said...

Two strands over 25 count is impossible and it will make you just totally unhappy. One thread over one is the way to go.

How far along were you? Can you start over, grid the fabric for the first page, and try one over one?

If you still hate it, don't waste your time on it. Life is too short to stitch things we aren't enjoying!

Jan Gartlan said...

Thank you all for your sweet and helpful comments. I did the recommended 2 strand DMC on the HAED as I have alot of black. Will I get good coverage on off-white linen with 1 strand of black?

Anonymous said...

Hello

Your squirell pictire is lovley!
I can't persuade you to keep on wit your HAED because all the details you list are the things that put me off trying one!

Your PS letters look lovely!

Gabi said...

Your Marjolein Bastin looks awesome. I love it SO much.
Can't convince you to go on with your HAED. I stopped mine too after the first row. It simply took away the fun for stitching, and that was it. May be...very may be, I'll take it up again one day...lol

Anonymous said...

I love your work on the squirrel, it looks so cute =)

I always use 25ct for my Haeds, but I am only using one thread. Befor I started my first Haed I tried 2 over 1 on 25 count and thought it looked to bulky for my taste and pulling the needle through was also quite hard. I tried to fros the stitched after being unhappy with them and had to cut them out because they were so tight (luckily I had stitched on a piece of fabric I did not use for the design). With only one strand of floss I had none of these problems. So i can really understand why you don't enjoy your Haed.
Maybe you should try using only one strand of floss or, if you want to stick with two strands of floss, use a higher count. A friend of mine does her Haeds on 18 count with twi strands and it's going wonderful, even frogging is quite easy.
I once used two strand on 25 count, but then I used tent stitch, that was fine, except for the fact that I don't like tent ;-)
I hope you will give Haed another chance =)

dulcinella said...

If you really don't like stitching the HAED, maybe you're right not stitching further on it. However, I think 2 over one on 25 count is very difficult to stitch neatly, no matter what you stitch.
I love the Marjolein Bastin so much, I think I'll have a go on another one later this year...

Maureen said...

Hi , as most of the comments here have stated 2 over 1 on 25 is tricky, one of my HAEDS is on this and it is quite hard going. Subsequently my two latest haed starts have been on 2 over 1 on 18ct and 2 over 1 on 22ct - much easier! I first tried 1 over 1 on 25ct but as with your design there was a lot of black/dark areas and I didn't like the coverage.

If I was you I would perhaps try a few sample stitches using various counts/threads to see what suits you best . Hope this helps..