New Post day -- Thursday's A&S Report

Some time ago my husband and I decided that Wednesday evenings would be A&S night at our house.  We bring or order in dinner and devote the evening to some form of Arts & Sciences (usually something for SCA, but sometimes it is something more modern).  To "keep me honest" I'm going to try to post on Thursdays a report of my A&S night activity.

And the first week, I get to post semi A&S fail.  My current smaller project is on hold waiting for the last thread to arrive, a second smaller project hasn't arrived yet, and I did not pull out all the apparatus to work on my big piece.  Instead I pulled out the hemstitch piece I was working on before I started the current smaller project.

And promptly realized I had forgotten how to do the stitch, and the book is neatly tucked away behind a pile of items to go to yard sale.

I did spend some time on line doing research (i.e. looking at museum websites) for a number of future projects, so it wasn't a total non-A&S night, but it was not the most productive.

That, however, is what the Thursday posts will be about -- keeping me honest.

Meanwhile, here is a gratuitous shot of some old embroidery I have done. This is the cover of a book that I made.  The book is a sampler of finger loop braids (that's the source of the "fringe" in the one corner).  It is now in the possession of my laurel.

Double running....

One of the counted forms of embroidery I enjoy doing -- and one which is particularly handy for idle moments -- is double running.  Sometimes, double running falls within 'blackwork' and it was in a class on blackwork that I first learned the stitch.  There are items that are, or can be, done in double running that do not fall within "blackwork," however.  (Blackwork, of course, can also be completly different than this geometric counted form ... but that's a post for another day, maybe. 

Generally made up of two passes -- one the "outward journey" and one the "return journey."  It is useful for items of which the back will be seen, such as handkerchiefs, cuffs, basket covers and such items.  The same designs can be done with other stitches when the back is not to be seen, or if reversibility is not sought.  I am drawn to the "puzzle" aspect of doing double running -- and both of the pieces pictured below brought me great joy in the working simply because of that.  

Both of these pieces were done on linen grounds -- the red on a slightly more open weave than the black.  The designs came from New Little Pattern Book by Peter Quentel, a facsimile of an 1882 printing of a book from the 1527-1529 edition, and I worked out the corners.

Both pieces are hemmed with simple hems.  I am now working a drawn thread hemstitch piece which may or may not eventually have a similar border worked. 

The first is a red work handkerchief, worked on 32 count even weave linen (sold in needlework stores) with one strand of red Splendor. 

This piece is not one line all around.  The outer squares with the acorns on top and bottom were worked all around, then the inside of each square. 

The second piece was an exercise is "not dithering."  When I start a project, I usually go through a long (weeks usually) period of looking at source material, thinking and dithering about design, colors, fabrics, threads -- ever element.  One day I had a series of medical appointments (all routine -- at the time I worked in town and I would schedule them all for the same day so as to only use one day of time off for all of them) with down time in between.  I grabbed a piece of fabric, black thread and needles, one book of designs, graph paper and pencil and set myself the goal of having thread on the fabric by the end of the day.  I managed it nicely, and started working on this piece with birds and flowers. It then became my "tucked in the bag for something to do whenever" project for some time. I first talked about this piece, and the "travel project" in this post. 

Except for those corner crosses, this piece *is* one line all the way around.

They may be birds, but these two remind me of my cats

... half the time facing each other and friendly....

.... and half the time back to back and ignoring each other. 

While also a commercial even weave, this fabric had more "slubs" which occasionally made counting a little more interesting. One of the nice things about double running is that you really only have to count on the "outbound" journey -- the return journey is just filling in.  When doing a piece that goes all the way around, it is always a great relief when the last stitch on the outbound journey matches up with the first stitch!

While I'm waiting for new reveals....

My current projects can't much be talked about -- either because I've said what there is to say so far, or because they cannot be revealed yet -- so here's a look at some prior work.

One of my favorite forms of embroidery is German brick work.  It's a nice, regular stitch of the counted type, typically done on canvas.  (In the East Kingdom embroidery guild Athena's Thimble it typically panels under the Canvas category.)  When I first came to the SCA and Athena's Thimble I was very much a "counted" girl -- so much so that when I entered an item in the "Free Embroidery" category for the first time the judges' comment was "set it free."  Nowadays I do as much free work as counted work, maybe even more -- but I do still love the rhythm of doing counted work.

Two pieces that I have done in this form are a pouch and a pillow.

The pouch was a gift for one of the Queens of the East. It was executed in black, red and white, using the recipient's household colors; and was opposite on the two sides. It is executed with silk threads on linen congress cloth (sadly, this is no longer made).  Congress cloth is a close approximation to the stitch count of some of the original brick stitch pieces found at the V&A.

The brick stitch is an upright stitch, in this example it is executed in pairs, with each pair "stepped" down or up from the one beside it, creating strong diagonal lines.

The bag is lined and a decorative stitch was added to the outside seams.  A fingerloop braid cord and tassels complete the bag. 

The pillow is one of my favorite ever pieces.

Using a chart I found of the pillow found in The Embroiderers and in Schuette, I made a couple of color changes from the chart-maker's choices.  

Worked on linen Congress cloth with silk thread, and interrupted by other projects, the pillow took quite a while to finish, and when I finished the last pair of birds I was very happy to be done with it.  

More brick stitch work is certainly in my plans for future projects.  It is ideal for household goods (like the pillow) and accessories that will see some hard wear (like a pouch).  The density of the stitching covering the entire ground makes the finished piece strong.  The pillow goes with me to events and has helped with comfort level on more than one occasion.