We have been away at Rottnest. Miss P went on camp and we decided to go too. It is such a relaxing place to go – no cars, nothing to do but read books and knit. I’ve made progress on Miss P’s cardigan (the yarn is Jo Sharp Desert Aran Cotton).
I like grids, lines and crosses and I have always loved the look of Blackwork – I love how something so simple can be effective.
I have been inspired by this book to make my own blackwork sampler (using machine embroidery). I didn’t want to copy that one exactly, so I have used different fills. There are a number of blackwork resources on the web (simply search for blackwork embroidery). I found this one, which lead me to this page on 16th Century fill in patterns.
This is still quite experimental – I think it might end up being too small and the jump threads might test my sanity.
I’m using the Cross Stitch module of Embird, which is super easy to use and it comes with some built in blackwork fills (but I have decided to make my own).
I am wondering what kind of stabiliser I need? There are a lot of stitches and I suspect I need a sturdy stabiliser to stop it puckering.