A final look at the Piano Shawl
Corner Motif on the Piano Shawl
The Piano Shawl was only a metre and a half square (only!), so there wasn’t really space for a stave in each corner, even if Elaine had wanted four melodies included! At the same time, there was enough space in the corners that without something there, the whole thing looked half-hearted and unbalanced.
So I had to do something. I traced some of the stems and devised a very light floral motif, consisting of four stems and a few leaves. The main stems are worked in Broad Chain Stitch, using a plain stranded linen thread, which I used in the stems on the main design elements too, but the shorter, smaller stems are worked in Portuguese Knotted Stem Stitch, using a variegated silk thread. I used several different variegated silk threads for the leaves throughout the Piano Shawl. Again this is by no means a naturalistic treatment – the flowers are something like dog-roses, but the leaves (all worked in Fishbone Stitch) aren’t like any I’ve ever seen in a garden before!
Initials in Morse Code on the Piano Shawl
My final picture is a shot to show my initials in Morse Code in one corner, pretending to be a caterpillar!
The picture also shows the centres of flowers, which were the same across the piece. The thread is a variegated, almost untwisted rayon thread, and it is used only in the centres of the flowers. It’s very like the thread I used for the headdress of the Prince’s Companion in the Persian Fantasy companion piece.
Now that I have seen the Piano Shawl in its destined place, I am happy with it. The overall effect is light-hearted without being entirely frivolous, and the time spent in Elaine’s music room pulling threads, and draping them over the furniture to make sure that they would all match nicely, wasn’t wasted.
However eccentric it might have seemed at the time!
I think this motif looks lovely – bright and breezy 🙂 I really like how your included your initials in morse code mascarading as a caterpillar, I clever touch.
Those flowers are so delicate and gorgeous!
“pulling threads, and draping them over the furniture to make sure that they would all match nicely” sounds like an eminently sensible thing to do!
I LoVe the corner motif! It’s gorgeous!
It is absolutely stunning. I thought they were dog roses too, but the leaves are a little too jagged aren’t they? Either way I adore the muted colours, as ever.
love the morse code idea….
It’s all absolutely beautiful. The thought that went into every aspect of it shines through. I love the morse code pretending to be a caterpillar!