Tag: 17 UFOs in 2017
Round-up for 17 in 2017
I have had a look at my progress on the projects I listed for the challenge run last year by Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz) and Anne (Frayed At The Edge) – 17 UFOs in 2017.
Webgimpe Added
In most cases, I didn’t even look at the projects, in spite of my very best efforts. In my defense, when I made the list, the projects for the Head of Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and my two little Amarna Princesses hadn’t even occurred to me, and they completely distracted me! Their project for this year – “6 and 6 in 2018” takes this possibility into account, allowing for reports on six old, or at least long-running, projects, and six brand new ones which pop up out of nowhere. I can’t be the only one who gets completely taken over by new ideas!
So, here’s the round up…
Blue Section
1 Eve in the Garden of Eden – all I need to do here (all!!!) is to make the box. At the moment the fabric is pinned out to straighten it a bit. I think I can call this “substantial progress”!
2 Nefertiti Shawl – I’ve recently written about the headache that this has given me. I need to get all my silks out again, and think hard about the next stage. I think I may have the faintest hint of an idea for it, but as I say, that needs much more thought.
Blue Flower
3 Queen Anne style teacloth – I got something done on this when we had a bit of a heatwave, and I’ve worked out the stitches for the Blue Flower. I just haven’t done all of them yet. “Progress”, but not “substantial progress”, I think!
4 The Modern Stitch-Off – I think I will decide that this is finished, but I reserve the right to change my mind!
Progress on the Christmas Angel
5 The Christmas Angel – I made a good start on the background, but there is a good deal more to do – again, “Progress”, but not “substantial progress”.
6 The Faience Necklace – I’ve thought about it, but done nothing…
7 The Swan – not a stitch!
8 The Unicorn – not a stitch!
I think it is fair to say that since I was ambushed by some wildly exciting ideas, it’s scarcely surprising that my attempts to finish other projects fell somewhat by the wayside. It was a nice idea, and I’m glad that Meredithe and Anne came up with it, but we none of us allowed for my wayward spirit of invention!
Current Travelling Project – Transfer Tablecloth
You may recall that I started on a tablecloth using a Briggs Transfer, as my “travelling project“. I’ve not travelled much, so progress has been somewhat spotty, but when the weather turned very warm while I was playing with my embellisher, I set the wool aside to pick up the tablecloth.
Harebells Perhaps
I suppose these might be harebells or bluebells or something similar?
I’ve worked them in Vandyke Stitch, which creates a strong central rib on each petal. It can be a tricky stitch to get just right, because tension makes a huge difference, and I may have worked them a little too tightly.
I’ve also changed each of the four appearances of this figure – there are two colours, and the disposition of those two colours isn’t quite the same in any two. It made it more interesting to stitch!
Buds, Maybe?
The next set of sprigs was this design element, and for this I went very old school and traditional – buttonhole wheels!
Furthermore, I used the same idea as with the harebells (if that’s what they are). This time, three colours. The one nearest the stem always dark, the furthest from the stem always light, the other two different on each of the sides of the tablecloth.
These two sprigs went swiftly. One heatwave, and they were done.
Blue Flower
This blueish-purple flower won’t be so quick. The inner petals are in closed herringbone stitch. I’m getting better at that, but it is a time consuming stitch and I sometimes tie myself in knots still.
The outer petals are in Basque Stitch, another one that I sometimes tangle. It’s pretty, and creates an intriguing effect. I’ve worked both petals from the base to the time, which produced a few odd contortions. But when it works, I think it’s lovely!
It’s also one of my 17 UFos for 2017 – see Meredithe’s post for more!
17 UFOs in 2017 – August
More Progress On Eve
Now I’ve got Eve out again, it’s fairly romping away, which means I genuinely have progress to show for Meredithe’s “17 UFOs in 2017“. At least, it is romping away when you consider that everything has to be done twice…! The second hillock took a couple of afternoons (I try not to work at the frame for too long at a time, in case it makes the shoulder worse again!), and then I got started on the trees and their branches.
Trunk And Branches
The trunk and branches are of couched silk gimp. The kit included four different colours of gimp, with the accompanying Soie Ovale, for couching, and each colour is couched as a single length. It’s expensive stuff, and you end up using three or four inches at each end for plunging and finishing off. Most of the branches will be covered by the foliage, also in couched gimp, but I’m pausing for a moment to consider whether I want to fill in more of the sky.
Pashmina
Lilac Flower
And as if that weren’t enough, I’ve also finished the gold border on the Nefertiti Shawl, and made a start on the four lilac flowers for the travelling project!
Report for 17 UFOs in 2017
Progress on the Christmas Angel
You may recall that a very long time ago I listed some projects I wanted to work on this year, prompted by Meredithe at Pomegranate and Chintz and Anne at Frayed At The Edge. Mereditithe’s most recent post for the challenge is here.
Then the Head of Nefertiti swept into my head and my hands and took almost all my brain power and stitching time, and Nothing Happened.
Well, something has now happened. I’ve had the Christmas Angel sitting in the corner of the living room waiting to be noticed, and a little while ago, I got to a natural Stop and Think point with my other projects.
So I have made a start on the background. I’m using metallic machine thread, two strands for the rough, textured threads in the centre of each cell, and three strands, one of each of three shades for the framework. It’s beyond fiddly and flyaway, and I’ve even bought some Thread Heaven to see whether it helps (a bit, maybe not quite as much as I hoped).
All that said, I think it is going to look rather splendid when it is finished. The idea is that it should be somewhat reminiscent of an icon painted on gold leaf. Some of them have a sort of engraved “diaper pattern” effect, and I hope that the diamond flame bargello pattern will do the job.
17 UFOs in 2017
Still More Circles
Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz) and Anne (Frayed At The Edge) are running a challenge for the year – 17 UFOs in 2017. The idea is not necessarily to finish, but to make substantial progress, on 17 UFOs.
Now, I’m not sure I have that many UFOs, and I have many new projects I want to work on (more on those soon), but I do have a good few that are stalled, or that I’m not sure whether I’ve finished or not, so although I’m not going to join in regularly, I will try to use the impetus of the challenge to remind myself to assess progress.
Blanket Stitch Fans
1 Eve in the Garden of Eden – I really want to finish this so I can sign up for the Stumpwork Lion!
2 Nefertiti Shawl – well, clearly, I want to be able to wear this!
3 Queen Anne style teacloth – this is a travelling project, so it depends on where I go and whether I have light or time to work on it.
From The Back
4 The Modern Stitch-Off – I’m not sure whether this is finished or not, so if I can at least decide that by the end of the year, I’ll be pleased.
5 The Christmas Angel – I was going to work on the Christmas Angel last year between Christmas and Epiphany, and never set a stitch on it.
Shoulder Cape
6 The Faience Necklace – this has been a real trial to me, as I can’t bring the design into focus. I’ve got some lovely silk thread so maybe that will help me to get started.
7 The Swan – I got the first layer of Laid and Couched work done, and have had trouble working out the detail layer…
Swan – First Layer
8 The Unicorn – again, first layer done, details escaping me.
Unicorn – the first layer
I have a lot of other things I want to do, which are barely begun, never mind finished, and as I have said, in the case of several of these projects it is not a matter of simply stitching, so much as deciding what to stitch, and then stitching it.
My real target for the year with these eight is to have finished the Nefertiti Shawl and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Anything else is a bonus!