I thought.... but no

One thing to keep in mind when embroodlering (doodling/embroidering <--take note, I coined it here and now!), is that your original plan--though sound and sturdy and swell--will more likely go out the window. 

This goes for the design as well as the colors.

I had originally planned the flower in the center of Doodleplex: Part II to be more cool-color based. Not subdued, but almost fairy-like in its color choices. 

You know, lavenders, purples, pretty blue-greens ^_^.

Not exactly what I'd first imagined. 

It was right about here where I started doubting my color choices --> and I almost tore it out (-gasp!-).

But when embroodlering, there are rules--at least, when I embroodle, there are rules.

I think it took me about half an hour to figure out what to do next--and even then I was skeptical.

Hmm... we'll see what the future brings.

^_^

Random but, I think, funny

Entirely out of the blue, but I'm a little tired, so bear with me ^_^

My desk is right next to my bed, and whilst engaging in activities of a textile nature I generally set up a nest of sorts that tends to expand over the hours.

By the end of one of my weekend embroidery stints, this is what stands between me and a decent night's rest:

Talk about the beginnings of creative chaos.
 >_<

I did it again.

Looking back, I see that there really wasn't a way out of it. That round had to go.

Though I may have accidentally snipped a bit too much (mid right). 

Whoops!

However, it might have been a blessing in disguise. I've been thinking about fudging with that part for a while and now I can see if it's worth the trouble of editing without having to wince.

^_^

I did say I'd doodle, didn't I?

I dare say I did. 

I also went a little computer happy... and decided to make something of it.

^_^

My very first embroidery patterns are up and listed! It's a pack of four patterns in a single PDF file that's instantly downloaded. 

I also accept custom sizing orders, so if you want a blown up version of the patterns, just let me know in a custom request right on the listing!

^_^

Here are some blurred (for security) shots of the patterns: 

^_^

Mishmash

When it came time to filling in the leaves on the outer petals of Doodleplex: Part II, I had the colors chosen ages ago. 

First of all, I wanted the inner flower to be a flower-shaped thing that didn't necessarily have the colors of a flower proper.

So, in long and short stitch, I went at it.

Here, you can see how the light plays off of the different stitch directions.

Now, I was planning on working each section of the petals first, and then go on to the other sections. Meaning that I was going to do all of the green parts and then move onto those smaller shapes in the center. 

But I couldn't. I had to see what my colors would look like just for the heck of it.

At this point, I would like to say that I am purposely playing fast and loose with my colors. I do believe that, on several occasions, I closed my eyes and chose colors at random.

This time, I tried stem-stitch... which is actually tricky to do in small compact spaces. So I switched back to long-and-short when it came time to do the grey area, which I did last for the outer petal (not the pink part).

But I wasn't sure I liked it--so I thought: hey, why do all the petals have to be the same?

This time, I went with a stem stitch... again. 

I just have a thing for stem stitch. 

^_^

Now I just have to see what I fill it in with. >_<

Until next time!

^_^

I've decided!

It's green!

Though, of course, you can't tell it's green... 

It's a really pretty peridot, honest!

Regardless, the tested version of Evelyn's Doily will be: Green.

^_^

P.S. despite my previous griping about Evelyn's Doily, I'm still totally cool with rounds 1-4. It's #5 that I want to beat up.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recently, my dog had an issue with his skin, and of course, I treated him to keep him nice and healthy and  whatnot.

However, during the course of his treatment, it also came to my attention that he had pink eye.

For those of you who've read my "backstory" page, ya see where this is going? 

Guess what I have!

Pink eye.

Though it was what started me on my textile journey, I don't think it'll have the same effect this time.

>_<

More Stems

Even though I knew it would happen, I'm still surprised at how different Doodleplex: Part II is turning out to be... 

I wasn't initially planning on stitching these stems first, but I'm trying to practice that whole "things in the background go first" thing since I have yet to get the hang of it. 

My proof: the fact that the purple-blue center of the flower was supposed to have a smooth petal-esque edge.

So far, I'm still sticking with the stem stitch here. I have to admit that I really like the stem-stitch, especially how it looks when I use two colors, like I did with my previous stems in Doodleplex: Part I. Here, I'm using a dark teal and a grey-ish dark beige (Anchor colors 851 and 393, respectively).

More progress.

And then:

Done!

I made a few booboos with the outline, but I tried to work with them as per the essence of the Doodle.

And a closeup:

^_^

What if I did it again?

I'm sad to say that my excitement over the changes to Evelyn's Doily has sputtered.

I haven't done much since this picture... and again, my problem is with the round before this one. 

I just can't seem to get it right and I'm thinking of tearing it out and starting over.

I just don't know...

>_<

Aha!

The bump in the road long gone, I finished the round!

I did notice, though, that it curved up a little and I even with some pressing didn't exactly stay down... I might need to edit a few things but so far it's nothing devastating.

^_^

Oh the shading...

I need to remind myself that after a while, doing the same stitch over and over again gets on your nerves.

At this point, I distinctly remember remembering a little something about stitching the parts that are supposed to be in the background first... 

...whoops.

Here's a side shot.

And though you can barely tell, I've added another color:

And another. 

And no... it's not a dull green like it looks in the picture. It's actually a really nice ocean blue-green--but for the life of me I couldn't catch it on camera.

And then came the little circles.

I should've thought back to my experiences with the purple things in Doodleplex Part 1 before I made my decision. 

I keep forgetting that I'm not the biggest fan of satin stitch.

Sometimes I think the feeling's mutual. 

Still, not bad, right? 

I'm not too sure about my color choices, though... but as per my unwritten laws of Doodle: everything stays.

>_<

Whoopsies!

You know those moments, when you're so close to finishing a round, and you're just on a roll and everything's fantastic and looking great and then you realize... hey, this isn't laying right.

And then you realize that you made a mistake?

Thank God it hadn't been too long between the time the mistake was made and the time I realized that I fudged it up. It turns out that I missed one of the rings in those scallopy things... and I'm telling you that I was minutes away from finishing.

The picture above shows where I am now. I had to undo a little bit of tatting to get back to this spot... but c'est la vie, you know? 

-_-

P.S. Yes, that Evelyn's doily peeking out over in the corner there. I stared at it for a while before deciding to work on Lotusness... I'm hitting another road block with Evelyn.

Not sure why.

>_<

Doodleplex continues

Let the stitching begin!

I decided I'd take another crack at shading.

So far so good.

Still okay-ish. 

Put in some extra stitches to specify the petals (though, if you look closely enough, you can see I made a boo boo >_< )

I also decided to try an outline to better define the outline of the last color.

Granted, it could be better, but I think it's good for a beginner!

^_^

A quick bit of needle tatting

Nothing terribly spectacular, just a little something I made up as I went along. 

^_^

Ohh have mercy....

Here's something to know about me: when I really like something, I start swearing. 

To be more clear, I say things like: 

"Oh d***!"

and "Son of a *****!"

and of course: "sh**!"

I think my computer was electronically wincing when I found this: 

THE SILK MILL

Now, like many textile enthusiasts, I'm an admitted threadophile, and since my introduction to Chinese silk embroidery, I have been searching high and low for a filament silk thread supplier with a wide variety. 

Previously, I had landed on Needlepoint Inc., because they produced their own Chinese silk <-- emphasis on the Chinese.

But DAMN! The Silk Mill has 600 colors!

Six hundred!

Granted they're in France, so shipping might be a little interesting... but I'm not above digging around seat cushions for loose change ^_^

Here's a screenshot of their website.

O_O

p.s., thanks to Mary Corbet for letting me know about this!

Doodleplex: Part 2

A while back, I got a hold of sketch pad and went nuts for about three or four days. 

All of the designs I made are pure doodles--that I plan on using for Doodleplex.

This is one of them:

I'm not sure how or what I'm going to do--but my brain's going nuts over the possibilities, which I'd wager bodes well.

I do know that I want to practice some of the techniques in the Art of Chinese Embroidery by Margaret Lee.

O_O

Here's a close up:

^_^

New background?

So, today I felt like taking my doodling up a notch.

Enter Inkscape.

Inkscape is a program that utilizes vectors vs. pixels and a bunch of other techy stuff that I can't really think of right now because I have a slight cold and I'm just happy that I could think of a word like "utilizes" >_< 

Anywho, I came up with this:

Lately, considering that it's essentially spring and all (though you can't really tell here since instead of getting warmer, it only gets hotter), the blog's color scheme might be due for a change.
After flipping through a bunch of color possibilities, this one was one of the more acceptable versions and I figured: hey, it works.

And, despite the pink, I'm seriously considering it as the new background for Lace (making) Adventures!
-Fanfare-
Still not sure yet... I might come up with some more possibilities.

Hmm.
-_-

P.S. I just might add these to the patterns page ^_^

Doodles for future?

I've recently noticed that, as of late, I've been watching a lot of those doodle videos on YouTube.

A whole lot, actually. 

Which, in turn, led me to start a little doodleing of my own. I figured it could help with ideas for embroidery/tatting/lace patterns... 

We'll see ^_^

Testin' Time!

So I've FINALLY finished the charts for the first three rounds of Evelyn's Doily and typed everything up.

Now that I can start to test the pattern, the real question arises:

What color should I use? 

Here's my test subject (old picture):

I dumped my entire thread stash out onto my bed and took a good long while (a whole five minutes O_O) picking out the honored candidates.

I particularly wanted to give my little-used self-dyed threads a chance.

Ultimately, after some serious internal debating, I came up with these: 

(Before I say anything else, I'd like to mention that the red thread wrecked havoc on the contrast and made a very lovely peridot green look semi-barfish. And, the peach is actually a variegated peach-to-white thread)

All of the above are hand-dyed except the dark blue thread in the middle. 

Now... what to choose? 

>_<

Potential? I think: yes.

The other day, a little lonely Lotusness caught my eye. 

So, I sat down and gave it a thought...

...and I think it could work.

^_^