Melitastitches4fun's Blog

More Ceylon/Ladder stitches for the outer heart. Glad to say now that the Ceylon/Ladder stitches got easier. Leaving more slack is good. It also allowed me to get rid of the magnifying glass. But, I could only do about 4 threads (18″) before having to take a break for my eyes. This seems much more tedious than canvaswork. I was pleased with the consistency of spacing for the rungs and the angle achieved turning the rounded sides.

We were given 2 options for the pair-wrapped ladder. No way was I going to try French Knots with this passing thread like Melinda’s pilot stitcher did. I stuck with the original teacher’s choice of wrap 2 skip 3.

The Woven Laidwork wasn’t too bad. I managed to use longer lengths of the silver passing thread. It took some effort to make straight lines. Melinda’s is tighter than mine, but I will take straight. I worked the Stem stitch left to right to outline all edges. I did start that (can you see where) in this photo. It covers up any imperfect areas along the edges.

For Stem stitch, which if you work from left to right (for right-handers) and right to left (for left handers), always keep your working thread below your needle. For Outline stitch, always keep your working thread above your needle. This is supposed to make it easy to remember: Stem=under and Outline=over (O=o). It’s completely done in this photo and ready for finishing!

This is actually upside down because the crown upside down. I will finish it with the crown uprighted. Since it is a heart, I am posting this today, October 3, to mark our 36th Anniversary!