an interesting discovery

I have been doing some Hardanger to prepare for a beginner’s Hardanger class that I have coming up in June at The Crewel Gobelin.

I have designed a simple design that we will work over a period of three weeks. So that students can get an idea of how it can work in different colourways, I have stitched up two designs so far.

One is in DMC varigated thread and plain solid coloured threads. The other uses a DMC varigated thread and a Colourstreams silk – Ophir in “La Plume” colour.

I have used Colourstreams silks before, but I have learnt some new things about Ophir while stitching this class model. I noticed that some of the stitches were sitting a little differently than how I expected. I then realised that the thread is not an S twist thread, as I am used to, but a Z twist thread.

I also found that because it is so slippery, its not particularly ideal for needleweaving as the stitch tension keeps easing off, and it is therefore difficult to make the bars really narrow. In fact, I would probably say that while it looks lovely, with its colour and sheen, I haven’t particularly enjoyed using it to stitch Hardanger with. (I do love it for other embroidery though.)

However, I have greatly enjoyed working some Hardanger again. The last time I did any was probably in October last year at Beating Around the Bush, and even then, I did very little, just helping the students out with their projects – not even my own stitching.

I’ll post pictures of the projects soon. If you’d like more details about the Beginner’s Hardanger class, or to sign up, please contact The Crewel Gobelin.