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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,
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
ReplyDeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Eh, 12,000 stitches will go fast! Remember it is one stitch at a time regardless what you are working on.
ReplyDeleteThat'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.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing your tartan coaster...I think the colors are so much fun!
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be worth it! Very lovely.
ReplyDeleteWow!! That is a gorgeous set. Love the stitching and creativity =)
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