Tynemouth Priory
Now then, this is an old friend, and everyone who’s been following my SlowTV Stitchery will be aware that since this is the Year of Finishes, I’ve decided to finish it. This is the first “Tynemouth Priory”, which I started, only to decide that the colours were all wrong against the Flag Sunrise, and I had to start again. I’m glad I did, because the second version fitted into the complete “Leaving The Tyne, 1915” very much better than this one would have done.
However, when I came back to it and started stitching again, I realised that the variegated thread I was using in the cloud may have looked right in the skein, but it wasn’t right when it was stitched.
Sigh.
Time to channel my inner Penelope, and unravel at night everything I had worked during the day.
I picked out two slightly different pale cream stranded cottons to take the place of the variegated thread, and a stranded cotton in a slightly lighter blue than the coton a broder, to go near the horizon, and I’m now reinstating it, with interesting diversions to create cloud-like effects.
At this point I was still feeling very tentative, but I think the sky is improving as I progress across it!
Episode 60 of SlowTV Stitchery is now live. In which is considered making a virtue out of a necessity, arguments with the ghost of Miss Hunter, and a plea is made for an Introduction to the Picts, all supplemented with some meditations on literary sources for future projects.
I’m with you about the change from skein to stitch – amazing how differently a colour can look when it’s away from the skein. The shading effect on the clouds is lovely, especially the slightly lacy edges.
When you know something is not quite working, taking it out is a pain – but far less of a pain than leaving it to annoy you forever more. The new sky looks good, and the simple but definite diagonal texture makes an excellent foil for the more random and largely orthogonal landscape and buildings.
I agree, it is difficult to imagine what something will look like when you see a skein of variegated thread. Only if you couch down a thread you can see all the shades gradually changing. However, as most stitches are also on the back and not seen, means the change of shades might come to sudden.
The sky is looking much better now.
The sky is looking lovely and I was wondering about that blank patch so thank you for the explanation. I also wondered what “firm blocking” entailed, and had a vision of your needlepoint being glared at over the top of your glasses with a stern frown. I suspect there is more equipment involved!
As to Picts, I can’t recommend anything, but a quick search of the British Library catalogue brings up 64 books (when refined to “Picts”) so you might find some with more appeal there, which you can add to your “intended reading pile” … I have a very large one of those, and may need an extra lifetime to work through them!
I remember this one, and to be honest, I like all the versions. Books to read – always more than there is time to read!