Wolf's Craftstravaganza
 

I've posted a few of my crafts in the past for the wonderment of all. I decided to get out my box of unframed objects and see what it held. I don't know if I'll be able to restrain myself to one per day, but I'll see what I can do.


Counted cross stitch on 18 count aida fabric.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/xmouses.JPG

This is supposed to be a set of Christmouse ornaments. In order to complete this project I would have to cut out carefully placed ovals around each mouse, sew it to a backing, stuff it with cotton batting, and make an attach a bit of braid around each one, also forming the hanger.

That is the reason that this has not been done. That is too much motherfucking work. I let the cuteness of the design overwhelm me into purchasing it, without thinking of the hell I would have to endure to make the ornaments.

I may eventually have it framed as is, but I will remove the guide threads.

Well that`s a side of you I never expected.

Jag, Wolf is actually a bot created by M.C.Escher.:D

I also crochet doileys.

I do not read historical romance novels.

You should see her hand-knitted holsters!! :shotgun:

One of my backburner projects (i.e., I'd have to get out too damn much equipment to even give it a start) is firearms related ... one of these days, mebbe when I'm on vacation.

If I give you steel wool will you knit me a bulletproof vest?:D

Just warning you, it's itchy. Worse than wool.

One of the things that I like about doing cross stitch is that for the most part you only do the image ... you don't have the often tedious task of filling in the background.

14 count blue aida fabric. A little cross stitch lesson. Aida is the most popular type of fabric for cross stitching. It is formed of very well defined, regularly spaced squares. The "Count" of a fabric refers to how many squares per inch there are ... 14 is the most common, with 18 next. Because you lose design detail, you don't see many projects (other than beginner/children's projects) done on 11 count, which is the next bigger one. Sometimes people will use a fabric with a higher thread count (like 28 count linen ... I'll be posting a pic later that uses this fabric) and work over two stitches.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/shepherd.JPG

How Counted Cross Stitch Works
 

Most folks have seen and understand how cross stitch works ... you make "X"s with thread until you make a picture. Most people, though, think of stamped cross stitch ... the stuff your grandmothers or maiden great aunts did, making tablecloth after tablecloth with flowers and cornucopias and holly leaves on them.

Or pillowcases with cute little pictures.

That's not the kind of thing I do. I do counted cross stitch. You start with a blank piece of fabric and a chart indicating where the stitches in what colors should go. You find the middle of the fabric, the middle of the chart, and that's where you begin, and work your way out toward the edges of the design.

Here is a finished piece and a graph from a kit.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/howxstitch.jpg

I just had a horrible geek moment.

It is a bad sign when you look at the cross stitch images and think they look pixellated. "That is some low resolution."

And so it would be hilarious to do cross-stitches of well-known net images or Fark cliches!

but please not goatse!!

I wonder how many cross-stitch pattern designers crossed into early computer game art design.

Interesting speculation, but this is one of those "never the twain shall meet" moments ... the best cross stitch designers still use graph paper and pencil to do their work ... feeding a picture into a software program is cheating it. The art is in the color choice, shading, and blending ... Teresa Wentzler is the master, uh, mistress of this ... I'm working on one of her designs but I honestly don't know if I'll ever get around to finishing it. I'm about 1/3 completed. She will mix two different color threads in one needle ... and you end up doing a LOT of color changes on her designs, but the effect is awesome.

textile machinery begat computer machinery....:)

Indeed.

I still have a deck of punch cards containing the first half of my record collection.:cool:
And now back to the regularly scheduled thread.:blush:

I also needlepoint. Needlepointing is done on a stiffened mesh fabric. The picture that you are making is printed directly onto the mesh. Instead of making "X's" like in cross stitch, you make a diagonal "/" staring in one box, ending in the one catty-corner to it. Because the mesh is large you work with a strand of yarn. Cross stitch is done with a given number of threads from a multi-thread floss. Flosses come in 6-strands. Depending on the count of your fabric, you use either two or three strands of the floss in the needle.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/tiger.JPG

I ran out of background color yarn for this kit. I wanted to finish it. I was quite young, probably in junior high. At that time I was of the mistaken belief that "green is green". Today I think that the error adds character, charm., and warmth.

I LOVE needlepointing, its so relaxing.

I have heaps of beautiful intricate pieces, some winning awards and taking years to complete.

ill post as soon as i can.

This is the first "big" cross stitch that I completed. I had done a few tiny projects, just to get the hang of it.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/carrot.JPG

Bunnies aren't just cute, like everybody supposes -
they've got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses!
And what's with all the carrots? What do they need
such good eyesight for, anyway?

Bunnies are nocturnal and they need to be able to finad all those carrotts in the dark!

no, they arent cute. they smell. and they eat TOO much!

Whenever anything sinister happens...
http://very.net/visual/images/misc/anyabunnies.jpg

My mom had a needlepoint shop for years . She won her Magestys needle worker of the year and was flown to england and presented the award by the Queen , on the way she stoped in DC and had brandy with Pat Nixon . She did a Large multi pannel hanging of the wild flowers of Tennesee , it is still touring the world last i heard . She designed MANY kneelers , vestments , rugs , and hangings for MANY churches Large and small . My FAV was always the big rug she designed for Safrari club International , ALL the dangerious game of Africa .
Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY !!!!!!



I will see if i can find her scrap book and post a few pics .

African bears?:confused:

I really do love DaBears.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/dabears.JPG

You have to to complete a large cross stitch.

I have a flag for my car, too.

You've had a lot of practice at needling, no wonder you do it so well.:haha:

A kit is a package containing all the essentials ... the chart, the fabric, the floss, and one needle to get you started. Most stitchers have packs of needles in various sizes just in case the ones that come with the kits lose their finish or start rusting.

A chart is just a printed booklet containing the graph and color choices for the design. The most popular floss is manufactured by DMC so most charts are keyed to these colors. There are conversion charts that allow you to use other brands of floss, but the other brands are not able to keep up with the numbers of varieties from DMC.

If a television, movie, or comic strip character has enough commercial success cross stitch kits and charts start appearing.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/garfield.JPG

I have a pile of charts that I haven't gotten around to doing anything with for Mario, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and some others.

DMC? French? Say it ain't so, Wolf, say it ain't so.:(

I haven't bought any recently, so I don't have to scold myself over it yet.

I have enough craft kits and spare floss to last until well after Armageddon (in between battles with fur-wearing bikers that roll in from the wastelands).

girl, just gotta say, outstanding work, and i never would have thunk it. great work!

A three-fer today to make up for the fact that I'm slacking through the holiday (attending powwow two out of the three days cuts into my online time). Remember how I mentioned earlier that if a television, movie, cartoon, or advertising character develops enough of a following, someone designs a cross stitch for it? Remember these guys?

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/raisin1.JPG

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/raisin2.JPG

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/raisin3.JPG

Bah, you young whippersnappers think you know it all.
I wasn't always a raisin, you know.
I was a grape,..a damn fine plump grape too,....and then....
I heard it through the grapevine, not much longer would you be mine.
Oo, I heard it through the grapevine, and I'm just about to lose my mind.
Honey, honey yeah.
You know that a man ain't supposed to cry, but these tears I can't hold inside.
Losin' you would end my life you see, 'cause you mean that much to me.
You could have told me yourself that you found someone else.
Instead,
People say you "Hear from what you see, na na not from what you hear."
I can't help bein' confused; if it's true, won't you tell me dear?
Do you plan to let me go for the other guy that you knew before?Oo,
:drunk:

Here's a pair of fantasy creatures that should be framed and hung together.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/pegasus.JPG

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/unicorn.JPG

Much nicer than those New Hope mules.:)

Victorian Skaters. I found this pattern in a cross stitch magazine. It should be in a round frame.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/skaters.JPG

I've been a bit lax in posting, so a two-fer for tonight.

The first one needs a bit of ironing ...

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/charliebrown.JPG

But his faithful companion is quite crisp.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/snoopy.JPG

How big are the Peanuts characters?:confused:

In honor of the final jewel of the Triple Crown to be run later today ...

This isn't Smarty Jones, but most bay thorobreds look alike.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/thorobred.JPG

The Charlie Brown is 6" X4", Snoopy is 6" X 3".

My intention is to matte them and use 8" X 5" frames.

The kits actually came with precut mattes, which I have around here somewhere ...

Another from my "Equine Period".

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/arabian.JPG

This one is an Arabian.

The fabric colors of the two horses are similar but not identical. If I ever get these framed they will have to hang separately so nobody notices that.

Bwahahahahahaha, I can relate to that.:D

Gotcha. I actually tried finding the original packaging, which is hiding, so that I could just read the numbers off it rather than have to get the Big Box of Stitchery out of the closet and also find a damn ruler.

Luckily I had left the dragon guarding the ruler, so that was easier to find.

I'm really impressed! I bought a Bert and Ernie cross stitch kit about 7 years ago and I still haven't finished it. I found the half done bit of Bert's head a few years ago and started working on it again. I was having such a great time working on it that I got this grand idea that I would cross stitch something for everyone at Christmas.

Yeah, that didn't happen and Ernie and Bert are still not done.

If you get to doing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, please post them - I bet those are cool!

If I can find the charts, I'll post pictures of the artist's model ... that's as close as I'll get right now.

I have to finish the cross stitch for my sister's birthday 8 years ago first.

Needlepoint for people who find needlepoint to be too complex ... the "difficult" part of the design, in this case, the horsehead, is completed for you. All you have to do is fill in the background.

I made this during a hospital stay when I was in the 7th grade.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/horsehead.JPG

I, myself, wouldn't rather be cycling, but this was made for a very dear, and now deceased friend.

His son returned this to me

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/bike.JPG

A little do-it-yourself needlepoint project here.

This was not a kit.

When I was in college, this was my favorite Broadway Show. It still is.

One of my friends in the theater department and I spent a LOT of time in a practice room in the Music Building singing tunes from Evita. We were pretty good ...

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/evita.JPG

Is that metallic thread? It really seems to sparkle.:)

Yes, the silver thread is a metallic. Pain in the butt to work with. You have to use shorter pieces of it because it frays as it pulls through the scrim.

Yet another technique ... this is "longstitch" which is done on the same type of fabric as needlepoint, but instead of stitching diagonally across stepwise holes, you make (duh) a long stitch from top to bottom of the color area.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/planes.JPG

that looks like it has some texture to it - very cool!

I like the Evita the best so far.

Keep 'em comin'.

that's one of the things that I do like about longstitch. the puffiness becomes part of the design.

It looks especially good with scene from the air, like the one you posted, because it is actually very realistic because fields would have that sort of textured look in real life.

This is the last one that I had ready to post ... there will be a bit of a lag as I have to discover other hidden caches of craft items. Also, I have a gun show to attend this weekend.

It's my favorite. The chart is called "Native American Angel." Well ... I don't do angels, so I left the wings and halo off. She didn't mind.

Also, as presented here, the design was so much more "me."

It's stitched on 28 count linen, over two threads. As you can (sort of, the flash reflection off the glass was a pain) see, the fabric doesn't have those clearly defined squares that the aida fabric did. This was my first piece on linen. Actually, I guess I should say only piece on linen so far.

http://scribe.fork.org/cellar/crafts/wolf.JPG

Excellent! Nice mat job, too. :)

That matting is why I do more stitching than framing.

Cost of kit: $19.95

Cost of actual stitching: Unable to calculate because I don't keep track of my time spent doing something like that.

Cost to frame completed kit: $199.95

There are a few projects that are pictured here where I got the kit on sale ... Charlie Brown and Snoopy were from a sale bin, $2 each, the Bicyclist, $1.

Amen.:)