Random Thoughts
By The Drawn Thread
Led by Karin K ersten

January 1, 2001 – March 10, 2001



Hello everyone,
First of all I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Again I am looking forward to lead this SAL, with again an increasing number of stitchers joining us. Welcome everyone, not only those who are joining us again, but also those, who will join us for the first time. (a little warning to them, you might get addicted).

I decided to call this topic "preparation time", because that is what we are actually going to do, before getting into the more serious stitching: prepare our fabric and do "some" basting lines.

First of all, sort out all the different threads and separate them. I put all the threads in floss-away bags, as that would be easy for handling. What are you using?

Then I zigzagged the fabric and I was ready. Some of you might use scroll frames, but I have never used these before (I don't even have these), so it's a bit difficult for me to describe what to do.

While first looking at the chart I was really intimidated. It looks so HUGE, complicated and I did not know where to begin. The design is lovely, but.... how to start.

On some charts you have a more defined line every 10 stitches, but not on this one, so it would mean a lot of counting! It has taken me some time to decide how to tackle this, but I finally figured it out, so this is how I decided to do it.

I divided the inner part into 8 little parts, actually making 8 spots out of them. Then I started counting, first on the chart, then on the fabric, and I had my basting lines defined. I made a little drawing of all the basting lines, with the number of threads next to it. I know, some of you don't want to do any basting lines at all, but I really suggest you do at least the red lines on the drawing.

To start with, fold the fabric in the middle and start the first basting line two (!) threads below the horizontal center of the fabric. This is at the place of the single asterisk. The double asterisk line is at the vertical center of the fabric. For the rest, just follow the drawing with the numbers I have made of the basting lines.

Take care, all numbers mentioned are numbers of threads, not stitches!



It may seem like a lot of work, but I already noticed it did help me while stitching the first part (I was off 2 threads and I only had to frog a little part instead of a LOT).

After finishing this, did you notice that it is not that Huge as you thought it was (at least I had that impression).

Good luck with this, and till next Saturday, when we get started with the stitching.

Karin Kersten

Hello everyone,

Today we are going to start stitching. For those who have done the basting line instructions from the beginning of this week, it will be easy to see which area we will do. It will be the top left area, consisting of 12 little motifs. Some are very easy to stitch and some are more difficult.

As this chart is very different from the previous SAL's I have been thinking about how to make the instructions, as some motifs are so easy, that nobody needs any further explanation. So I decided to write down the sequence in which I stitched the motifs, and then add any further instructions if necessary.

Sequence:
Tree, A, B, Robin, C, F, rabbit, G, tree, queen stitch motif, J and little sampler.

Check the placement of all the items with your basting lines. Both the right hand sides of the C and the robin will be a basting line. The bottom of the tree, queen stitch, J and sampler are all on the next horizontal basting line.

Additional instructions:
Tree
First do all the branches, starting with the left bottom branch, which is located 2 threads (1 stitch) from the left basting line and 24 threads (12 stitches) below the top basting line. Finish all the branches and leaves, then do the spider web rose stitches. Be careful, don't pull the thread too tight on this stitch. In my opinion it looks nicer if it is lying flat on the fabric.





Robin:
The beak of the Robin should be done in 694 Light Gold instead of 973 Dark Brown.

Rabbit:
Don't forget the tail, which is one little French knot in White.

G:
This is an Algerian Eye stitch, done in 155 dark blue green. This stitch has to be pulled very tight.

Tree:
This tree is done with the modified Van Dyke in 294 dark pine green. Look carefully at the diagrams and don't forget that these show the actual number of threads of the fabric.

Queen stitch area
This is a little bit more difficult. I started with the A queen stitch in dark mauve (step 1) and after I had done the first QS, I started with a new thread doing the C QS, in dark blue green (step 2). After having done 6 of these (step 3), I went back and did the A QS again (step 4), as by now it was easier to see where that stitch should be done.

After having finished both the A and C QS, I started to do all the B QS and then the D qs.




Sampler
The sampler is stitched over one. I started with the complete border first. When that was finished, I did both the first and last band, then added the letters and numbers, and then did the middle band.

After having done all these motifs, your stitched area should look like this.



Good luck everyone, and let me know if you have any questions, problems or suggestions. But also if you have managed to do this area and what you think of it.

Karin Kersten 


Another week has passed again quickly and now it is already time to get started on the second week of our SAL.

I have been in touch with some of you last week and it looks like you all have a lot of fun doing it. So far I have not heard from someone who had to do a lot of frogging, so that is good news. Someone else told me she always had problems with the queen stitch, but this time it went perfect, and she was so enthusiastic she even went on with stitching part of the second week.

How is your stitching getting along?

If you have questions, please send either a message to the board or email me and we can all help you when you have problems with this chart.

Okay, let's get started with the second week.

Sequence:
D, fishbone leaf, house, E, both the trees, border with rapid stitch, crane, over one motif, H, I, sunflower motif.

Placement of the basting lines:

Both at the right hand side of the tree and the letter I should be a basting line. On the left side of the crane there should also be a basting line, the sunflower motif is one stitch (=2 threads) left of that basting line and both the bottom of the sunflower motif and the letter I are on the horizontal basting line.

Additional instructions:
Fishbone leaf:
Start with this stitch following the diagram and do the stem after that in the same colour.

Both the trees:
For the trees, first start with the stem, as it will be easier to do the ray stitches after that. For the ray stitches, I started first with the bottom one on the left side of the tree, then did the next one above that and so on until the top, and then all stitches down again at the right hand side of the stem.

Border with rapid stitch
Work from the left to the right, and start 2 stitches (=4 threads) below the house. This stitch is quickly done and looks lovely. At the end of this border, there won't be a basting line, as this border stops one stitch (=2 threads) before that.

The letter I
I first did the backstitching and after that it was easy to do the cross stitches in the middle of it.

Sunflower motif



First start with the top and the bottom band in the double four sided stitch. You really have to pull each leg of the stitch very tight, then you can see little holes when finished.

After that, first do the leaves and the inner part of the flowers in cross stitch. Then go on with the Jessica stitch over 8 (on diagram it is mentioned as Jessica stitch). I was first confused with the "over 8" , until I realised the complete stitch was done over 8 threads horizontal and 8 threads vertical.

Finished.
Now we already have finished the second week. It really amazed me to see how quickly these little motifs are finished.







My favorite motif this week was the sunflower motif, because I liked the special stitches, one of which I had not done before (being the Jessica stitch). What is yours??

My least favorite motif was the section over one. I don't know why, but I think it's because I made a mistake with the over one stitching and had to frog a small part of the green. What is your least favorite motif and why?

Happy stitching everyone and until next week.

Hello everyone,
First of all I wanted to say that I really loved seeing the posting from Linda B with her scan of the first two weeks and all your reactions to it. I think this is a great idea!! So if one of you have finished this week's instructions, why not make a scan as well for all of us to enjoy!

I have another question for all of you. I received an email from Barbara in Kansas who wrote that she was doing the RT on Lambswool instead of Summer Khaki. She is a bit ahead of us and working on area 4, with the white motif and this does not show up very well on the lambswool. We discussed what colours to use instead of White and I suggested for the white area one of the following colours: 342 (pale olive), 292 (light pine green) or 143 (medium rose). I myself would prefer the 342 pale olive. For the other two larger white areas I suggested the following: for the area under the motif with the initials I would think 982 (light brown) would be nice and for the letter V, also 982 (light brown) or 973 (dark brown) would be a good substitute.
Now we wonder if anyone else is doing this on Lambswool and if so, what colours do you use? Please tell us.

Okay, back to this weeks instructions:

Sequence this week:
Motif with your initials, the letter K, the ladybug, the letter L and the white satin stitch band.

Placement of the basting lines:
At the left hand side of the motif with initials and the letter L there should be a basting line. Two stitches (=4 threads) below the letter L and the white band there is another basting line. There is a basting line 1 stitch (= 2 threads) to the right of the ladybug and the letter K, and the white satin band ends 1 stitch (=2 threads) at the right side of the basting line.

Additional instructions:

Motif with the initials.
I started with the cross stitches in light pine green, finishing first all the cross stitches in this colour. Then I made all the backstitches in dark pine green, as this helped me with the placements of the hearts and the little cross stitches on the vines. Then add the woven leaf stitch in the corners. After that chart and cross stitch your initials in the centre of the motif.



White satin stitch band.
First start with the double four sided stitch in white. Remember to pull very tight, just like the band with the sunflowers in week 2. After that do the satin stitches with two ply white and then the star eyelets.

Watch out while making the last star eyelet on the right. The straight horizontal stitch is over 2 threads instead of over 3, so this stitch will line up with the double four sides stitches above and below it.




By now we have finished this week's instructions and I hope you all keep on enjoying this.

Till next week
Karin (from Holland where it is again (!) snowing).


Now back again to this weeks instructions.

Sequence:
Butterfly, white area, ribbon with heart, bees and the letter M.

Placement of the basting lines.
At the right hand side of the ribbon with the heart, the bees and the letter M there should be a basting line. Two stitches (=4 threads) below the butterfly and 3 stitches (=6 threads) below the letter M should also be a basting line.

Additional instructions:
Butterfly:
the inside wings of the butterfly are done in backstitch with 1 ply of light blue green. Watch out for the way you do these stitches, as one wing is different than the other wing.




White area:
I started this area with all the satin stitches, first the ones on the top, then the stitches in the centre, before stitching the double faggotting stitch. Again this last stitch is a pulled thread stitch, so pull each leg very tightly.




Bees
The wings of the bees are also done with satin stitches. Again, be careful, one wing has horizontal stitches and the other one vertical stitches.




We are finished again for this week. I am really looking forward to your ideas about how to continue!!

Happy stitching
Karin Kersten 

Sequence this week:
Heart, the letter N, the words WHAT IS, little block with hearts, letter O, the words THIS LIFE, Rabbit, the letter R, the words IF FULL, the letter S, flower band and the final words for this week OF CARE.

Placement of basting lines:
On the left hand side of the verse there is a basting line. There is also a basting line to the left of the heart, the letter N, the little block with hearts, the rabbit and the flower band. And below the flower band there is also a basting line. The verse and the letter N starts 1 stitch (= 2 threads) below a basting line.

Look at the scan for the placement of the basting lines.


Additional instructions:
Actually there are not that many special stitches this week. The little heart and the verse is over one, and the only special stitch is Half eyelets, which are the flowers on the flower band. All the other motifs are in cross stitch or backstitch, so they should be easy to do.

Happy stitching this week.
Karin L


Sequence this week:
The words WE HAVE, the letters P and Q, the words NO TIME, the owl and the white border, the words TO STAND, the house, the words & STARE, the tree and the deer.

Placement of the basting lines:
Below the house, the tree and the deer there is a basting line. There is also a basting line directly under the white border, and a basting line on the right hand side of the Q, the owl and the deer. As you can see below there is also a basting line next to the tree.

Special instructions:

White border:
This area is done with the double cross eyelet with a smyrna cross in between, all done with 1 ply of white. Don't forget to pull the threads tight.

Just an advice. Remove the basting line before stitching it. It is very difficult to remove afterwards (and I know it because I have done this)




Tree:
The leaves are all done in double backstitch. I really love this stitch, it is quickly done, especially with the instructions on the chart how to do it.




This is all for week 6. Now I wonder if anyone could show us their scan of how far we got already??

Be in for a surprise next week. That week we are also going to do the animal, either the cat from the chart or the dog you can find on Marj's website, but I changed that into my dog.

Today someone saw my RT and immediately recognized my dog and said "that's Abby", so I thought, if I am able to change it into something that resembles my dog, you could all do your own favorite animal.

Happy stitching
Karin Kersten


Hi everyone,
This week we are already going to work on week 7 of our SAL, which means that next week we will be finishing the inside area. Didn't it go quickly?

I have read that some of you have still been able to keep up with us, congratulations!! And even if you are a bit behind, don't worry, once you get past week 6, your needle will fly again and you will have it finished in no time.

Sequence this week:
The letter T, the numbers 1, 2001, 3,4,5, area L (darning pattern), white pulled thread area, the letter W, the cat (or dog), the lady on the chair, the letter X, your name and finally the Half Rhodes area.

Placement of basting lines:
On the left of the letter T, the white area and the letter X there is a basting line. 2 stitches (=4threads) above the T and 3 stitches (=6 threads!!) above the numbers there is also a basting line. And of course there is a basting line under the letter X, the half rhodes area and your name.

Special instructions:
The numbers:
Watch out, these are 3 stitches below the flower band and the house. I changed the number of 2000 into 2001 and for the last 0 I used the same number 1 as above.

Area L.
This is a darning pattern, for which you have to turn your fabric.



White pulled thread area:
Again this stitch is a double 4-sides stitch, for which you have to pull the threads very tightly.

Start at the most right hand side of this band and work your way from right to left. At the end (at the basting line) turn your fabric and do the 4 stitches down.

Then start at the second row, again at the right hand side and do the same here at the end.




Letter W
This is again a darning pattern for which there is a very clear stitch diagram (Area N).

Cat or dog.
The cat should be stitched over one, something we are now all familiar with. If you like, you can also stitch a dog instead of a cat, for which there is a chart on Marj's website. This is also a motif, you can personalize yourselves. If you have a white, dark grey or brown cat or dog, change the colours a bit and use that. This will give you just that little bit extra, you will always love in future.
I also decided to do my own dog and for those who want a chart of it, just email me and I will send it to you.

Tell us what you are going to use!!

Name and Half Rhodes and Cross area.
Before you start on the half Rhodes area, first chart your name, so you will know how much space you need for that. When you finished stitching your name, then you start on doing the half rhodes area.

Instead of 8 half rhodes I only used 5. Watch out, the cross is done differently then the usual cross stitch. I always start all my cross stitches from left bottom to top right and then from right bottom to top left. Here it is the other way around on the stitch diagram.

Have fun and until next week.

Karin Kersten 


This week we are going to finish the inside area. By now it is also time to think and decide about how you are going to finish it, make it into a bellpull or getting it framed etc. The last 2 weeks we will do the outside border, which will be different depending on how you want to finish it.
This week we will also remove our final basting lines, as we don't need them anymore.

Sequence this week:
The numbers 6,7,8, 9, the letter U, the letter V, area J, damask darning, the stand with the needlework, the year, the letter Z and finally the letter Y with the spool charm.

Placement of the basting lines:
On the right of the letter U,V, area J, damask darning and the letter Z there is a basting line. And of course there is a basting line under the year, the letter Y and the letter Z.

Special instructions:

Letter U:
This is a four sided stitch, done with 1 ply of Dark Rose (again pull each leg of this stitch tightly).

Letter V:
This letter is done in satin stitch with 2(!) ply of white. Look at the diagram of area I, where it is clearly described how to do this letter.

Area J and needlework on stand
I don't think that this will need any additional instructions. By now we sure know all how to do the over one stitching

Damask Darning.
For this motif you really should look carefully at the diagram of area M. Follow the instructions here. The difference between the chart and the diagram is that on the chart, some of the outside stitches are shown as a stitch over only one thread. On the diagram you will see that the stitch is always over 2 threads for the fabric.




Letter Y with spool charm
While doing the backstitches on the letter Y attach at the same time your spool charm where it should be with the same thread. I did this by making a stitch over the spool and repeated this several times.




Good luck and till next week
Karin Kersten

Hello everyone,
I have already heard from lots of people who have finished the inner part, even from some of those who started a lot later (like my mother, for whom this is her first big project with other stitches besides cross stitches) or who even had to restart completely after 6 weeks (like Julia). Congratulations to all of you who have managed to keep up with us. Just 2 more weeks and you are all finished (or even before that).

This week you must have made the decision if you want to finish it as a bellpull or have it framed. As you all might have read on the board, if you want to have it framed, you might want to use some different stitches instead of the hemstitching. Joanie in NY mentioned to use the 4-sided stitch, which I think will look great! She did this stitch also on the 13th and 14th thread above the center top of the stitched area with perle #12 ecru, but suggested that a coloured perle cotton like Light Pine Green would also be lovely.

For those who want to finish it as a bellpull, or those who still want to use the hemstitches, follow the instructions on the chart by withdrawing the 13th thread completely from all sides and then reweave the 14th thread. Then we go on to do the flowerborder.

The flowerborder
The border is always 6 threads above either the 4-sided stitch or the withdrawn threads.



We are going to do border 1 to 9 this week and will finish it next week.

Special instructions this week.
There are not very many special instructions left anymore, because by now we all have done so many special stitches that it may seem I am repeating myself writing them down.

The main thing with all the different borders is the following. First do stems and leaves, before doing the flowers. Of all the special stitches there are very good diagrams on the chart.

I do want to warn you though, with border 4. Check when you have gone around the corner that you still have 6 threads between the withdrawn threads (or 4-sided stitch) and the flowerborder. Also watch out that you don't turn around your fabric too and go on stitching, because then you might do the cross stitches the wrong way.

Also on border 8, when doing the two color rice stitch, first do all stitches number 1-4 of all the flowers in one colour, then do the remaining stitches in the other colour.

Next week we will have the final instructions and you will all have a great project finished.

I also have a favour to ask. If you have it finished, could you please send me privately an email, with what you liked and did not like, what you thought was difficult and what you would like to have explained in more detail another time. This will help me with future SALs.

I am making a scrap book of this SAL with all the reactions, photo's etc as I loved doing this. And it will be fun later to look back again.
Till next week
Karin L


Hello everyone,
It seems just a short time ago, that we started with this SAL, (only 10 weeks) and now this is already our last week. Time has really gone fast. Would you have believed it yourself, that you could finish this within 10 weeks, and do some other stitching as well??

I was just reading my posting again for the preparations, when I mentioned that this project was HUGE and looking very complicated. And now looking back, I can only say, I have the feeling it was not that complicated at all, and it's not as huge as I thought. We had some difficult stitches, but by now, when I am writing down the final instructions, it seems to me that there are not many instructions left anymore. We have covered already so much. The final border really goes fast, and then you can either frame it or make it into a bellpull.

Special instructions this week:

Again for the remaining borders, first do the leaves, then the flowers.

Border 10:
I myself found it easy to work with 2 threads, one for the backstitching and the other one for the flowers. I stitched the flower first, before doing the cross stitches around them. Again, take care at the corner and make sure you keep 6 threads between the border and the withdrawn threads (or 4-sided stitch).

Border 11:
Again a Jessica stitch for the flowers. This time use the diagram for the Jessica stitch (over 4).

Border 14
The last satin stitch of this border should be done on the same line as the top of the letter T. This is a good place to check if you haven't made a mistake.
The lazy daisy stitch is done after makng the satin stitch leaves. Make sure the stitch is exactly between the two leaves.





Border 17
Use the diagram for the double Leviathan stitch for the flowers.





All stitching has now been finished.
If you are going to make this into a bellpull, carefully follow the instructions as mentioned for the hemstitching and if you have any questions about that, please ask.

I hope you all enjoyed this SAL as much as I did. And if you have finished it, please let us know and show it to us if possible.
Thank you all for your reactions, comments, emails etc. It was great fun.

I wish you all a good time with new projects, perhaps you will join the SAL of Sanctuary or start with one of the other new designs. And don't forget, stitching should be FUN, you must enjoy yourselves doing it. So if you ever have a problem or a question, post it to this board and I am sure lots of us will help you.

Happy stitching
Karin Kersten