Incoherent Scribblings

SBQ: Blends

I seem to have taken to posting the SBQ every other week lately but I am going to get back on track… starting next week!

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Christine and is:

How do you handle blended threads? Do you kit the blends up before you start a piece, or do you grab what colors you need and blend when the need arises? If you kit up the blends beforehand, how do you store them? Do you have another option for blends to share?

I blend (or tweed) on the fly. However, I have tried a couple of different methods for storing blends if I have a left-over length after I finish a section.

I tried punching holes in a length of cardboard and then writing the color numbers (e.g., 415/503) over the holes once, but for some reason this method didn’t really do anything for me.

Instead I just take the left-over length and wrap it around one of the bobbins that composes the blend. (e.g., In the 415/503 combo I would wrap the left-overs around the 415 or 503 bobbin) Since I usually work on the same project for a few days at a time this works pretty well as long as I don’t have two or more blends using the same colors. When I move on to a different project I either toss the blend or, if the length is still usable, separate the threads and return them to their respective bobbins.

SBQ: Complications

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

What is the most complicated piece you’ve ever completed?

Hmmm… I suppose I would have to say “Above the Clouds.” Although “Above the Clouds” didn’t have any one-over stitching or specialty stitches it had plenty of blends, confetti stitching, and quarter stitches… All the things that make TW designs (in)famous.

SBQ: The Essentials

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Terri and is:

What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?

Hmm… Let’s do a quick review of what I keep in my DMC Travel Bag first, shall we?

- 1 Stitchbow Binder (I don’t normally use stitchbows, but since one free binder came with the bag I bought some stitchbows to keep extra skeins of 310, blanc, ecru, and 3371 at my fingertips.)

- 1 sheet of paper listing my current rotation

- 2 embroidery hoops (1-4″, 1-5″)

- 1 pair embroidery scissors (with scissor fob)

- 1 mechanical pencil with eraser

- ½ card Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in gold (From a finished project, for some reason I haven’t ever returned the card to my stash)

- 3 needles (1 Size 28 Piecemaker, 1 Size 26 Piecemaker, and 1 Size 24 Piecemaker)

- From time to time there is an actual project in the bag as well.

Since I recently cleaned out my stitching bag and put the non-essential items back where they belong, I would have to say that with the exception of the Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid I currently consider all of the items in my bag essential to my needlework.

SBQ: Downloads

After an inadvertent two week hiatus, the SBQ is back with the following question:

When you stitch a pattern that you have downloaded do you print out the pattern or do you stitch directly from your computer screen?

When I first discovered cross stitch charts online I didn’t just download them, I printed as many as my ink jet cartridge would allow. However, as time went on and I literally found thousands of patterns online I printed charts as I decided to stitch them. I printed charts for much the same reason that I printed journal articles I found online: I believed it was easier to stitch (or read) from paper as opposed to directly from the computer screen.

Then I moved back to the United States.

Now I am sure you are wondering why this is a significant factor in the whole printing vs. stitching directly from the computer screen dilemma and the reason is that when I decided to move back to the US I opted to leave the charts that I had printed out behind. I had the charts downloaded and burned on disk anyway and it was much easier (and cheaper!) to move them that way than try to move a couple of pounds of paper.

I had every intention of reverting back to the method of printing the charts off as I decided to stitch them, but I ran into a slight problem: I had (and still have) no printer at home. There were times when I could access a printer, but of course this never coincided with a time when I was moved by the urge to stitch one of the charts that I had downloaded. Therefore, I learned to stitch directly from the computer screen and have been doing so quite successfully for about a year now.

I still print out charts that I have downloaded now and then when I remember to put the chart on my flash drive, take it to work, and print it out, but these days I mostly stitch from the computer screen.

The only downfall that I have found is that it is extremely difficult to stitch from the computer screen and watch DVDs on the computer at the same time!

SBQ: Recycling Questions

I took over “The Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week” from Jennie back in January of 2005. When I first started it I had no plans to post a question every week so I changed the name of the meme to The Stitching Blogger’s Question and then shortened it even further so that it became the SBQ.

As luck would have it, for the past three years I have had enough questions that I could post something (almost) every week. Of course, there have been weeks where the SBQ was forgotten or not posted because of things happening in my personal life, but until now I have had plenty of questions to ask my fellow stitching bloggers.

However, as I scanned through the questions this week, I realized that I currently have no new stitching questions to ask. While I could make an announcement right here and now that the SBQ is no more, I have decided to take a recycling approach instead.

I think the recycling approach to the SBQ has a couple of distinct advantages. First of all, I know that there are many stitchers who have joined the SBQ Yahoo! Group since I first started it and while I always invite people to browse through the archives and answer questions at their leisure, I am sure there are a lot of questions newer members of the group have never answered. Second of all, even if you are a long-term member of the group I am sure that there are questions that I asked in the past that you would answer differently today… I know when I look at the old questions there are some that I would answer differently than I did three years ago.

Therefore, while I am always happy to accept question submissions from members (send an email to blondelibrarian at gmail dot com if you have one), from now on I am giving myself the freedom to recycle old questions if I feel like it. While you are never required to answer the SBQ, I encourage “old” members of the group not to dismiss these questions. Instead, look at them with fresh eyes and see if you might answer differently than you originally did.

And so now, without further ado, this week’s SBQ was originally posted on January 4, 2005 and is:

After you stitch a pattern or kit, what do you do with it?

My answer to this question has not changed much since 2005: I pack-rat it away. However, since I answered this question the first time I will admit that I am much more amenable to giving charts and/or kits away or trading them after I finish stitching them than I used to be.