thread-review

This is most definitely one of those “Do as I say, not as I do” posts (Mom said there would be days like this).

Kreinik spools can be a real bear to keep organized. Recently on Facebook, Elaine Withrow Stevens had a picture of the compartment box she uses to store her Kreinik spools. She lets us know where she got them and the picture shows how well they store the spools, either flat or upright.

I had forgotten about this method of storage. That’s dumb because at least two stores I know of store them this way. As a customer it irritates me because I can’t see the threads easily. It was especially bad at the place where the boxes weren’t clear AND she kept them behind her desk out of sight and out of reach (that shop is no longer open).

But it’s fantastic for storage if you have space.

I keep mine, sorted by size in some of my card catalog drawers (not good for knowing how much I have of something.

See the original post here:
Storage Tips for Kreinik Spools

Perle Cotton Giveaway

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Thanks to the generosity of a friend who is cleaning up her stash, I have a big bag of perle cotton in full skeins to give away.

There are 32 skeins of #5 in many different colors and three skeins of #3.

In order to win this giveaway, please add a comment to this post, telling me why you like perle cotton.

Entries will stay open until September 9, 2011 at midnight Pacific. I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, September 11.

Good Luck!

Originally posted here:
Perle Cotton Giveaway

City Needlework Silk – Thread Review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Lee Needle Arts needlepoint kimono using City Needlework Silk stitched by needlepoint expert Janet M. Perry

City Needlework is a fairly new needlepoint shop in the SF Bay Area. They also have their own line of stranded silk for needlepoint that now has national distribution.

I completed this mini kimono from Lee Needle Arts last weekend. City Needlework Silk is used for all the silk except for the lightest pink.

In feel and ease of use it reminded me of Needlepoint, Inc Silk. That’s my favorite silk because I think it is smoother than Splendor, so it’s easier to use, but not so smooth it tangles (one of my problems with Au Ver a Soie).

So it was great for stitching, moving smoothly through the canvas. To see if my impression was correct, I used one of Needlepoint Inc’s overdyes from their Northern Lights line for the light pink. No difference in stitching.

However Needlepoint Inc is an eight strand silk, so City Needlework Silk has slightly thicker strands.

Looking at my color card, the colors (there are about 200) tend more to colors than neutrals and more to brights than pastels.

The range of colors in each family ranges from one family with 4 shades to one with 10. Most families though have 5 or 6 shades.

This is a lovely silk, one well worth seeking out.

More here:
City Needlework Silk – Thread Review

Blending Old & New Dyelots Seamlessly

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

You know the feeling, you are going to run out of thread before the project is finished.

You’ve already starting stitching, so you can’t use my stripes method (explained in the link).

What do you do when you’re using a stranded thread?

First off stop stitching this color immediately. You want to save as much of the thread of your first dyelot as you can.

Second, buy the thread you need and I skein more than you think you need. Get the same dyelot if possible.

If the dyelots are not the same, then you will use needleblending to move from one dyelot to the other. The process is the same as shading: you will replace one strand at a time until you are only using the new dyelot.

But how do you decide how many rows to do for each blend? Assume that, at most, one half of the remaining area should be used for the transition, although it can be much less. But remember, the wider the transition are is, the more seamless it will be.

Essential Tips for Stitching with Silk

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

My friend Doreen over at Art Needlepoint has a great post on her blog with tips for stitching with silk.

It took me a really long time to try stitching with silk again after a disastrous experience. But now I prefer it to using cotton floss. So much so that I have in my stash many types of silk, certainly more stranded silk than any other fiber and almost no solid cotton floss.

If you haven’t tried silk before or if you have had bad luck with it in the past, follow Doreen’s advice and you’ll be a convert.

Substituting for Silk & Ivory

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

There has been some discussion recently about substitutions for Silk & Ivory when the piece needs to stand up to some wear. Substituting threads is a common problem, especially when you are working on an older piece. Often the thread called for no longer exists, or you can’t get it easily. There are many ways to find a substitute thread and sometimes, if the thread is still made you might be able to find a way you can use it.

When you are looking to substitute threads first you need to understand the original thread. What type of thread is it (ribbon single-strand, or stranded)? What fibers is it made from? How thick is it? In this case Silk & Ivory is a thick, single-strand silk & wool blend.

Blended thread get characteristics from all the threads present so when looking for a substitute, consider single fiber threads from each fiber in the blend. In this case that would be silk and wool.

The first would be to use, as many have suggested, a wool thread. Wool has the advantage of being very sturdy. One great thing about wool is that you can use single-strand (i.e. Tapestry wool) or strand (i.e. Persian and crewel wool) interchangeably for almost all wools there is no difference to the eye.

Wool has the disadvantage of being somewhat difficult to find as it’s less popular these days. The result would be more matte than using Silk & Ivory.

Another possibility would be to use a single strand all silk thread such as Vineyard Silk or Planet Earth. Silk, as a fiber, is stronger than wool and traditionally has lasted a long time but wasn’t because it was stranded silk used for hard-wearing items because of the possibility of snagging. These thicker single strand silks are too new for us to know much about this but I would almost certainly do it in silk. This will give you a less matte look, and, I think would be the closest to Silk & Ivory.

Another way to substitute is to look for a different thread that will meet the criteria of the finished product. Her something that wears well is needed. Going outside the box you could use perle cotton. It is very hard-wearing for cotton and I know people who stitch belts or dog collars and use nothing else. However the look will be much shinier.

But can Silk & Ivory (and Trio) be used so that the problems are minimized? In fact it can but you need to be extremely careful to thread your needle so that pilling is reduced. This makes all the difference. Thread wrong and there are many pills. Thread right and it wears well. This shop has a great explanation on how to do this.

Read this article:
Substituting for Silk & Ivory

New Products from Kreinik

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

I recently got a newsletter from Kreinik announcing some new products that would make great gift ideas.

Their metallic thread collections come in lovely clear boxes with eight threads in a single size in different related colors. They are available in Blending Filament, #4 braid and #8 braid. If you’ve thought about trying blending with metallics, but wondered how you would pick a coordinated set of colors to try this, look at one of these collections to do all the selecting for you.

There are also color sets in their silks, Hot Wire, and Micro-Ice Chenille. The box sets of Hot Wire are 3 spool sets. The colors available are Holiday (red & greens), Ice (silvers & white), Gold, Dark (black, blue & amethyst), Light (pink, yellow & cream), and Rustic (orange & copper)

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New Products from Kreinik

Planet Earth Wool – Thread Review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Earlier this year Planet Earth Fibers came out with a lovely, very soft Merino Wool.

Available in 120 colors (color card in link); it comes in 28 yard skeins.

It has quickly become my favorite wool.

As I said, this thread is very soft and has lots of air spun into it. What does that mean to you as a stitcher? It compresses enough to work just fine on 18 mesh, but it’s thick enough to provide good coverage on 13 and 14 mesh.

The matte threads in this ornament are both Planet Earth Wool.

I love the color range of Planet Earth’s threads. While there are not as many colors in wool as in silk or stranded silk, the colors match and are numbered and named the same, making substitutions a breeze.

Those who like to stitch with wool can have real problems these days. With Planet Earth Wool you have the advantage of working with a single ply thread combined with the lush softness only wool can give.

If you’ve never worked with wool before, you’l find this thread so easy to use that stitching’s a joy.

See more here:
Planet Earth Wool – Thread Review

Nature’s Palette Canvas – Product Review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

How often have you thought to yourself that the standard colors of canvas just aren’t what you need? Of course, you could color the canvas yourself, but that’s lots of work and, like me, you might not be that good at it.

These canvases are painted so that the background is colored, so you are free to stitch them lightly or not at all. There are 30 colors available and they come in two standard cuts, 10 and 20 inch squares. Needlepoint designers can order other sizes, so you will find designers, such as Leigh using them for their designs, often in special colors.

There are four groups of colors: solid, custom, premium, and jewel.

The solid colors are an almost even color. You would almost think they were dyed, but turn the canvas over and you’ll see the white of unpainted canvas.

Custom colors are either a solid with flecks of a second color, or mottled shades if two or more colors (the picture above is on a custom canvas).

Premium canvases come in three colors; blue with sliver, red with gold, and harvest. The metal/color combinations are more edgy with the metallic looking as if it had bee splashed on.

There are twelve colors in the Jewel Collection, but I haven’t tried them yet.

In stitching these two ornaments, I found the canvas took a little getting used to. While the layer of paint is very thin, it is still there, making the canvas a bit stiff. You also need to think out, before you begin to stitch the placement of the design so that the canvas is used to its best advantage.

But I liked them and will be using them for some of the needlepoint club pieces coming in 2012.

You can see swatches of all the colors and order the canvas at Nature’s Palette website.

Read this article:
Nature’s Palette Canvas – Product Review

Great Thread – Sassa Lynne

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2009-04-14 06:11:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

bargello needlepoint luggage tag, designed by Janet Perry

Want to try several hand-dyed threads in unusual colors, perfect for stitching?

Want to be sure you have enough of them to do more than a patch?

sassa lynne 3 thread mix hand-dyed perle cotton

Look no further than Sassa Lynne’s marvelous website and her Etsy shop. And especially look for her mixes. The 3 Thread mix with metallic perle is pictured above. It has in it a #5 perle, a #5 perle with metallic in it, and, I think, a #12 perle. They are all dyed in similar colors and will make a lovely piece, especially when mixed with some things from my stash.

A second mix, which has more kinds of thread (5 or 6 I think), was used as the background for the Bargello needlepoint luggage tag pictured at the top of the post. I used the #3 perle and the metallic here. I just love it and think it looks like the colors in hydrangea.

The thread packs are the best choice for embroiderers. They have three threads, perle #5, metallic perle, and coton a broider 16. They are available in 40 colorways, of simply stunning variety. Chose a color from the drop down menu to see the threads in that color. The colors are so wonderful, vibrant brights, subtle monochromatic combinations, and interesting color schemes, I’d buy one of every one if I could.

You can also order perle in 5 or 8 in huge skeins in a more limited color selection. In addition to the thread packs, there is another thread Viscose Rayon, no pictures of it though, which also works for embroidery,

On the Etsy shop, look for the multiple thread packs. All the items on Etsy are the results of “Serendipity,” happy accidents that won’t be repeated. These have either 3 or 5 threads in them and are selected to go together. Right now there is a stunning mix of ecrus that looks, to me at least, like vintage wedding dresses, I just love it.

Her skein sizes are generous (125m in a hank) and she is always innovating wonderful new hand-dyed threads and items.

You’ve got to try this great thread!

Read the original:
Great Thread – Sassa Lynne

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