Raising A Needle At Last

Having at last settled on a design for Aethelflaed, there was a certain amount of jockeying around to get the size right and everything in order to start stitching.

As you can see, I’ve got William prepared to be mounted, but he’s still unmounted, which makes him easy to compare. The direction of the designs are contrary, there will be more red and brown in Aethelflaed, and I think the white horse will be rather necessary to help lift it.

You will see that I’ve already added the guidelines for the planned basketweave underside couching. I found adding them later really nerve-wracking, so this time I put that in first, and then the important bits of design went over the top, in a different colour and more precise line..

I was able to gather some of the threads from among those I used for William, which has helped. Partly because it’s always good not to have to buy more than you need, but also because it will help the series “talk” to one another if the palette of colours has some continuity. And then some of the others were passed on to me by Sue from TortoiseLoft (thank you, Sue!).

It has occurred to me (very recently) that if I keep the same blue background in the border, that will also keep the conversation going among the designs. I’m also considering winding the roses around the barrels and skeps, again to keep the conversation going.

But finally – FINALLY!! – I’ve managed to get started!

I’ve used three different browns in the outlines of the stones of the wall, and a very dark blue-grey for the horse.

There’s much more to do, but my goodness, I’m glad to have begun. I know Aethflaed must have been feisty but her embroidered representation has been living up to every bit of it.

Now, what would she have called her horse?