Progress on "In the Forest"

The rabbits are getting bigger!

Here is an update:

I just realized that I forgot the stitch on the girl rabbit's nose! At least, I think she's a girl! I think the one with the cape is a guy and the one with the heart is the girl.

What do you think?

It's coming along slowly. I had to take out parts of it which cost me some time. I am finding that there is quite a bit of eye strain on this one. The linen is very dark, and the thread is very irregular on this fabric. With a thread count this small (35 ct), it really helps if the threads are more uniform. It makes it easier to count.

I would guess that I am a little more than a third finished.

The Maypole is finished on The Red Thread

I finished this last week, but I misplaced my memory card for my camera so I couldn't take any pictures. Boy is that annoying! Those slippery little things can get away from you so easily!

Here is the 5th month, The Maypole. The picture came out a bit dark and out of focus, but here it is!



It is hard to see, but the little white dots from the butterfly are French knots.

Here is a picture of the whole thing so far:

I am still not sure about these colors. I think I would have chosen different ones, but I am going to wait and see how it looks when it is finished.

Working on My Braided Rug Again

I have finally gotten back to where I was on the rug!

Last October, I pulled out four rows, four large rows! I had used a lighterweight wool for one of the strands. Sometimes you can get away with it, but not this time. It was twisting on both sides of the rug. At first I thought it would work itself out, but it bothered me so much I just decided to pull it out. This is a major project in itself in a rug this size. Unlacing it is not the problem. It is the un-braiding that is awful! I replaced the wool strip, rebraided and laced and here I am back, ready to start again!

I have just ended the 28th row here and I am about to make a color change.

Furrytail, my Maine Coon, is supervising.

He says he doesn't care that it is a dining room table. If it has a rug on it, he is going to sit on it!

In The Forest by La-D-Da

Now that I am caught up on The Red Thread, I wanted to start another design. I picked In The Forest by La-D-Da.

I don't know why but this one just tickles me! He reminds me of "Harvey", one of my favorite movies, (and rabbits)!

I am not doing the one on the cover. In my opinion, they put the wrong one on the cover.

The better design is on the back with both rabbits in the same picture.

I think this one is much better with the rabbits together.

This is my progress so far...

He looks like a kangaroo here!

The linen is 35 count Blackbird from R & R Reproductions.

I decided on DMC. I had considered using silk from Hand Dyed Fibers. They have a package put together for this design, but the colors seemed too dark for the dark fabric I am using. Also, I think this type of folky design is better suited to the cotton.

It has been a little hard though. I am using two strands of DMC. The holes are very small in 35 count. I have done a lot of work on 35-36 count linen, but this is the first time I have used the dark color with this fine a count. I have noticed it is a bit fatiguing, and my progress is much slower.

Progress

I have mades some progress on The Red Thread.

I finished up March's "Go Fly a Kite", and April's "smell the Flowers"! Now I am caught up!

I am not entirely pleased with the way the flowers came out. I am using DMC and the purple flower was not purple enough. It came out an orchid color that did not provide enough contrast to the pink flower.

That being said, it is certainly a variation you would find in nature, so I opted to leave it as it was. For some reason this little design gave me some trouble, a lot of re-counting and pulling!