Announcing the Tuesday posts.

Because my brain is simply overflowing with thoughts and Ideas (yes, capital "I") that I want to share, I'm adding another day -- partly in an effort to organize.

So, Mondays:  SCA and historic stuff -- my work and research, all with an eye to Medieval and Renaissance.

Tuesdays: Reviews, teaching, and modern things  This will be the place I post teaching materials, reviews of books and products, and share cool things I find on the Internet.  These will be both Medieval and Modern.  For now, this will also be the place to share modern world work -- modern knitting and sewing, progress on my studio revamp (which does continue since this post).  This section may split even further down the road, if I get more than a few posts "in the can."

Thursdays: A&S round up.  This is the "Keep Kandy Honest" post.  Usually it will focus on the A&S efforts of the previous day, though "what I've been up to since last Thursday" may also be a topic.

Thus, this being Tuesday, I'll start with a review.  There is one book that always goes with me when I'm going to be teaching, and which rarely makes its way back to its place on the needlework shelves, Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches -- the edition by Jan Eaton.  It is a complete reworking of the Mary Thomas Dictionary of Embroidery stitches from the 1930s (I have a copy of that too, though I think mine was a later reprint).  This new edition, originally printed in 1983, has lots of color, with examples of stitches, and includes alternative names for stitches and simple, clear illustrations.

The extensive introduction covers threads, fabrics, hoops and frames, needles and other useful information.  Then, the various stitches are grouped by type: Outline Stitches, Border Stitches, Composite Band Stitches, Isolated Stitches, Open Filling Stitches, Detached Filling Stitches, Straight and Slanted Canvas Stitches, Crossed Canvas Stitches, Composite Canvas Stitches, Insertion Stitches, Edging Stitches, Cut and Drawn Stitches, and Pulled Fabric Stitches.  The index is very complete, again including alternative names.

Here is an example of just one page of stitches (photo from "look inside" feature on Amazon).


Yes, there are other stitch dictionaries -- this is one that I have that I turn to most often.  A stitch dictionary is an important tool in any needleworker's "toolbox" -- I give this one a high recommendation.