Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Tartan progress..

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Two words describe my tartan plaid progress:  SLOW GOING

Stewart Hunting plaid needlepoint coaster
designed for Scottish teacup & saucer


If I hadn't convinced myself that the charting of the plaid was the ONLY hard part of this project, I probably would have approached the actually stitching more mindfully, BUT, me being me, whenever I've had two spare minutes, I grab the stretcher bars, glance at my notes, rip off some thread and start a new line of color.  It pains me to admit that on more than one occasion, okay two occasions, maybe three occasions, okay, actually four times I've discovered that I didn't follow my notes and had to take out several rows of stitches, each time.  So, I'd be much further along if I would simply force myself to slow down, relax, look at my notes/chart for more than 0.25 seconds before I start a new line of stitching.  I can be a real idi-o-TA, sometimes!  Mom would have said, no dear, just pig-headed.  :-)

It is an interesting plaid, if you ask me, because it is irregular (like someone else I know, like, really really well).  I've learned a lot about plaids since I started my research for this project (check out The Scottish Registry of Tartans if you too have ever had the desire to learn more about them), but I won't bore you with the "clan, set and pivot points" stuff..  I will tell you that when I tested my 7th grade algebra memory and figured the area of the circle in order to discover the number of stitches the coaster would contain upon completion, I about passed out. 

Area of a circle = pi x radius squared, or 3.14159 x (63 x 63) = 12,469

Seriously!  12,469 stitches to fill a 7" circle on 18 count canvas.

To most of you, that may not be a big deal, but it kinda rocked me!  I then started thinking about the hours it would take for me to do 12,469 stitches, and what ELSE I might do with said hours versus making a silly coaster for a teacup.  Then, I shook it off, grabbed my canvas, glanced at my pattern and whipped out another row..

Here's hoping you are having a wonderful early Autumn (or early Spring) week, wherever you are!

Hugs,





7 comments:

  1. Wow, that's dedication. It's going to look amazing when it's finished though. It reminds me a little bit of my family tartan, actually - Fletcher Modern - with the green and thin red (347?) stripe. Good luck with the rest of the stitching. Kelly

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  2. I cannot believe how much time it must have taken just to plan it, much less stitch it! It is perfect! Can't wait to see it finished!

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  3. Love it! Eh, 12,000 stitches will go fast! Remember it is one stitch at a time regardless what you are working on.

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  4. That's a heck of a lot of stitches in that area!! It looks wonderful, but I have to say that you have more perservance than I do. I'd probably throw it to the side if I had to rip out stitches that many times.

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  5. Love seeing your tartan coaster...I think the colors are so much fun!

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  6. It's going to be worth it! Very lovely.

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  7. Wow!! That is a gorgeous set. Love the stitching and creativity =)

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