Two weeks of TAST and latest lace dyeing

After three tries I finally got this photo in the right place LOL This is TAST (TakeAStitchTuesday Challenge) week 43 and the stitch of the week is the Drizzle Stitch. A totally new stitch for me that I will be using when I get around to doing Brazilian Embroidery as this is a very dimensional stitch. I really had fun with it and found out how important it was to have a pin cushion handy to hold the needle while wrapping. For this stitch I used 18ct Aida and the Drizzle Stitch flower and buds were stitched with #12 perle cotton and I added Colonial Knots in #8 perle for the center of the flower. The main stem and bud stems as well as the detached Lazy Daisy leaves were stitched with two strands of DMC floss. The right uppermost single Drizzle Stitch flower was worked with #5 perle cotton and I added two Colonial Knots in the center. The bottom Drizzle Stitch flower was also stitched with the #5 perle and I added the Drizzle Stitch in the center. It really was an easy stitch to do.

Now week 44 was another matter LOL The Zig Zag Spanish Knotted Stitch proved to be a bit of a problem. For this stitch I used 14ct Aida and Caron Watercolors single strand. I think I would have had better luck using a smaller thread on a larger count fabric. The top two samples were stitched following Sharon's (inaminuateago) directions. And for the bottom sample I used #5 perle and the directions I found in Jo Bucher's "The Complete Guide to Embroidery Stitches and Crewel". Those directions did vary slightly. I liked this stitch but definately need more practice.


The other week I experimented with dyeing some small swatches of 18ct Aida. I haven't used them for stitching yet but I will ..... maybe soon ..... who knows! Anyway, a couple of months ago my son purchased some yarn on ebay and wanted to know how it would look if I dyed it red. Well, since I needed some red silk ribbon I decided to give it a try. You really can't see the yarn but it is the fourth piece from the top. The yarn is Reynolds Chanteuse 100% virgin wool (made in Switzerland) and the original color was white. This is a fingering lightly nubby yarn. I began with Cherry Red Ozecraft dye and everything in this photo was run through the dye once. Because the silk ribbon was not the color I wanted I had a couple of drops of Bordeaux (more of a blue/red) Ozecraft to the Cherry Red, added the three sizes silk ribbon and the two pieces of lace above the ribbon for another shot at obtaining the shade I wanted. Voila! I was very happy with the results all around.
This next photo shows motifs, laces and another piece of the Reynolds yarn dyed in the Cherry Red/Bordeaux mix. Several of the motifs and pieces of lace went through the dye bath the second time. The third item from the right is not lace but some fine crochet thread wrapped on a toilet paper roll that I had previously drip dyed several colors in which the results were disappointing. Soooooooo, into the red dye bath and this time I was pleased with the results. I have since wound the crochet thread onto one of my floss bobbins ready to stitch with. A good week.