Okay last we left off I was running out the door for breakfast at The Cottage and some thread shopping. Breakfast was wonderful as always and they always seem to indulge me! A quick looksee at the orchids in Adelaide’s and then off to Warwick’s where I got Mariano Rivera’s new book…in case you don’t know he recently retired from baseball and the Yankees. A true legend and, well I guess I fell off the subject at hand here!

I bought the Kreinik size #4 in 003 Red to try the cross part of the stitch in the dotted Swiss. I have Accentuate in color 40 for a backup plan. If I were to use the Accentuate I would use 2 strands as just a single one would never show up. Do you struggle with this thread? well most of the time you do need to use 2 strands, so just take a really long length of thread, double it over in your needle, knot it and stitch away!

Okay since I don’t have time to work on this now, I will give you all my thoughts and ideas so you can stitch away!

The burgandy breast plate…hmm lets see. As I worked the basketweave on the coat and studied what I would do there I keep thinking Or Nué, which could be challenging because of the way it’s painted. If you were to do that I would use the Kreinik #12 002HL as the gold using a single length of that…or if you had already bought the #8 you can use that also, but use 2 lengths of that for each line. You can find many videos and online instructions for Or Nué. The burgandy Needlepoint Inc. Silk would be the couching thread. What I would do when ready to stitch a canvas thread where it is painted gold, I would skip that stitch with the silk and the pattern would develop that way. Or you could basketweave it in the 2 colors…or you could basketweave it totally with the burgandy silk and then couch the gold on top of it. I don’t think that I would bead it as it would bring the breast plate too forward.

The face would again be basketweave in 1 or 2 strands of a silk or a DMC floss that is in your stash. I like DMC floss 761 and/or 948. Do you keep a little stash of face colors in your threads? This thinking if you stitched this very light, you wouldn’t need to buy the 3-4 colors that it is painted. Not only that it is so challenging to keep changing threads in such a small area. The eyes I would use Kreinik or even Neon Rays and never beads as you wouldn’t want beady little eyes!

His beard I would stitch in long and short using Burmilana 3601, 3516 and 3881 which is white and 2 light grays. I would start with packed outline along the edges to achieve that curve and then shade to the white, using either 1 or 2 strands.

I have these beads selected to bead his crozier…yes I did change the gold beads from what I originally thought. This is a Sundance #14 bead 471 that is a brighter gold and I like it much better! The red bead is a #15 Miyuki bead 1464 color that was used in a Kelly Clark crazy quilt.

The staff should be stitched with some dimensional stitch or by padding it. If you wanted something basic, you could lay down some padding and then stitch over in a satin stitch using Kreinik 002HL…okay you are already using #12 so you could use that.

Another option for the staff would be to work a Van Dyke stitch. Or if you could find some heavy braid in a shop and use that…the possibilities are endless! Or if you give me a few weeks I will teach you how to do repoussé which will create a very real looking staff.

If you wish to do the latter, I wouldn’t stitch his mittens right now as the one that holds the staff will need to come over it. If you just want to get this finished NOW, I would stitch the mittens using the silks form the coat. There is no red Burmilana that works well with the silk. You will need a little white and I would work those too in long and short, trying to achieve the slant as it’s painted.

You are all waiting for the background and yes I stitch that LAST or almost last! Santa at the moment seems to be floating in the air, so you need to ground him or give him something to stand on.

Using Water N’ Ice WT1 this is what I would stitch for the ground. Totally random, make some bigger, some smaller. Bring it up to about where the red starts on his coat.

Yes I know I have said 2 very bad words…randow and long and short! It’s really not that bad at all and I am not a random person at all, trust me!

This is what I used here and loved the result…so if it works why fix it?

The snowflake is a bit smaller than what I used on the panda as the canvas is smaller, so I scaled it down. Add as many or as few as you would like using Kreinik #8 in 032 Pearl. You can add a white bead in the center of the snowflake.

Almost but not least is the holly in his hand. The stems are just a tent stitch…you know sometimes less is more?! The holly leaves I am thinking basketweave French knots, where rows of basketweave are alternated with rows of French knots. Nestle some beads in for the berries. I have not selected a green color for this yet.

The Turkey work with a punch needle, which I will do a demo for you later this month. Originally I had thought Burmilana, but I think that we will all go crazy rethreading the punch needle. So how about Impressions 1130. I think that we will still need 2 skeins as 2 should be worked at the same time. If you already have the Burmilana, well we just make that work!

Here’s a punch needle that was found at a big box store, or try your local craft store too!

Whew I think that I am all talked out…right Sylvester?

and until next time…keep on stitching