New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 12 – It’s a Wrap!

My journey with the Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT’ canvas has come to an end.  I decided not to add any new stitches in the spaces between the letters with the focus being on the stitches used for them.  I did the T-Stitch using Petite Silk Lame Braid numbers SP11, SP26, SP33, SP126 & SP141.  On my canvas the white/beige areas looked creamier so that is why I used SP33.  If your canvas looks whiter you may choose to use the white Petite Silk Lame Braid.

What I learned working on this canvas is that some stitches work better is small areas while others work best in larger areas.  I tried to use the threads that best matched the painted canvas.  It’s fun to experiment with stitches by using different colored, over-dyed & metallic threads.  There are no needlepoint police.  Play around with your stitches till you get the effect you are looking for.

I hope you will be able to use some of the stitches I included on this canvas.  Let’s see what I can find for next week’s New Stitch Monday.

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 11

Well, we are coming to the end of finishing up the Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT” canvas.  For the final letter “T” I used the Diagonal Ribbons stitch.  I used Splendor S952 (4 strands for 18 count and 6 strands for 13 count) shown pink on diagram, Neon Rays N63 shown blue on diagram and Kreinik 684 (12 braid for 18 count you may want to use 16 braid for 13 count) shown yellow on diagram.   I think this would be a great stitch for some holiday canvases using any variety of red threads, ribbons & metallic threads.  For me I find it easy to do one row at a time this way if you mess up you can catch it before it’s too late.

Next week I will show you the finished canvas.  I hope you can add this to your new stitches for 2021.  Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

 New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 10

My hunt has continued for stitches that I have never done and I found a really interesting stitch for the letter ‘N” on the Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT” canvas.   Years ago, I joined a club called “Building Blocks for Needlepoint” by Stitch Play Designs and as I was looking through the pamphlets, I found this stitch called Virginia’s Stitch.    I continued looking and I found the same stitch in “A Father B Sampler – Stitches for the 21^st Century”.  It was meant to be that I would do this stitch.  I used Splendor S910 (4 strands for 18 count and 6 strands for 13 count) shown pink on diagram and Entice E265 shown blue on diagram.   I did need 2 cards of the Entice.   I really liked the way the stitch turned out.  Play around with different threads and or try using 2 different colors to see the different effects that you will be able to achieve.

I hope you can add this to your new stitches for 2021.  Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 9

This week’s stitch went through a lot of changes.  When I started stitching the letter “I” on the Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT’ canvas the original stitch that I was going to use was a Rice stitch variation.  As I was working on it, I really didn’t like the way it looked.  I had the base 4 by 4 Cross stitch stitched using Entice 209.   Once this was completed, I realized the stitch was beginning to look like 4-way Continental Variation which is not a new stitch to me.  A funny thing is that in the end 4-Way Continental, Alicia’s Lace Variation and the stitch I finally did do, Trellis Cross, all look very similar. Luckily, I never did Trellis Cross so I did do a stitch that was new to me.

If you like open stitches leave the letter “I” as is doing Steps 1 & 2 as shown on the stitched sample and diagram.  I found it easier to complete all of the 4 by 4 Cross stitches with E209 and then went back and added the Upright cross stitches also using E209.

To complete the stitch, add the additional Upright Crosses using 4 strands of Splendor S960 as shown blue on diagram.

I hope you can add this to your new stitches for 2021.  Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 8

For the letter “O” on the Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT” canvas I did another Bargello stitch, Scallops.  It was a really easy stitch to do and to compensate.  I used Splendor S1134 for the main part of the stitch shown pink on diagram and Entice E231 for the accent stitch shown yellow on diagram. If you flip this stitch it would work for clothing and drapes.

I hope you can add this to your new stitches for 2021.  Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

 New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 6

I am at the half way point on my Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT” canvas.   I have to admit this has been a fun project and is helping me keep busy during these crazy times that we are living in.  For this week’s stitch I choose the Arrowhead stitch.  It is fairly simple and easy to compensate.   I used Splendor S850 for the main part of the stitch, shown pink on diagram and Kreinik 127 (size 12), shown yellow on diagram for the accent stitches.  If your canvas is 18 count use 4 strands of Splendor & 6 strands for 13 count canvas.  You may also want to consider using size 16 for the Kreinik depending on the coverage you are looking for.   You can use the Arrowhead stitch in small or medium areas.

Hopefully you can add this to your 21 new stitches for the 2021 Challenge.  Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 5

As I continue looking for stitches that are new to me for the Raymond Crawford “NEEDLEPOINT” canvas, I found a great stitch.  For the letter “L” I did the Twisted Columns stitch.  What I did discover is this stitch would be fantastic for a larger area.  So, keeping that in mind when you are choosing stitches make sure you get the look that you are looking for in a stitch.  Some stitches look good in smaller areas while others look better in a larger area.

I did this stitch in 3 steps using Soie Cristal #5074, Neon Rays N138 & Neon Rays Plus NP138. I used 4 strands of Soie Cristal for Step 1 shown yellow on the diagram.  For Step 2 use Neon Rays N138 shown green on the diagram.  For Step 3 use Neon Rays Plus NP138 shown blue on the diagram.   The beauty of this stitch is you can choose to use 2 threads instead of 3 by using the same-colored thread for Step 2 & Step 3.   I was looking for a little glitter in this stitch.  The next time I do the Twisted Columns stitch I will most likely try it as a background.

I hope you can use this in your 21 new stitches for the 2021 Challenge. Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie

New Stitch Monday With a Twist – Week 4

For the letter “D” I chose the Rosemary stitch.  I have to admit that I had a different stitch picked out for this but after I took it out the 4^th time I realized if I got frustrated there is a good chance that you would also. For me needlepoint is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable.  While I do like to challenge myself, I don’t want to get stressed out.

Since I already purchased the threads & ribbon, I looked for a stitched that I would be able to use all 3 threads.  I did this stitch in 3 steps.  First, I did all of the Continental stitches using 4 stands of Splendor S997, if your canvas is 13 count use 6 strands (shown dark purple).   For the 2^nd step I did all of the cross stitches using Kreinik – K2094HL (shown light blue).  For the 3^rd step I did the accent lines using Neon Rays N05 using a Chenille needle.  I did need 2 cards of N05.  I tried doing the accent lines before the cross stitch but I found I kept catching the ribbon causing it to pull.

I hope you can add this to your 21 new stitches in the 2021 Challenge.

Give it a try!

Happy Stitching – Stephanie