Creative day

The weather was gorgeous  today - again - beautiful, crisp autumn sunshine.

Still no rain, which we desperately need. One thing is that the ground is so dry it is scary, but we don't have mains water and our tanks are getting so low, we will all have to start showering at work if it doesn't rain soon.

I don't know if it is because it is Friday or because the weather is so stunning, but the thought of spending the day in front of the computer was simply unbearable... I did try. After a few attempts - ok, rather half hearted attempts, I decided to allow myself a creative day of stitching.
I have had a lovely piece of light blue cashmere velour blanketing, a pile of soft yarn and a rather 'Folksy bunch of flowers' bunched up in my 'when I get time' pile for a while. What better day to take time?

I LOVE embroidering with wool on wool. I am really not sure why more people are not getting into it. It is fabulous to work with - so forgiving compared to cotton and silk. Anyway, if any of you have tried embroidering onto wool you will know that really the most painful part of the process is getting the design onto the fabric because there is no way you can trace onto blanketing or other woollen fabrics.

I use the 'old fashion' method of tacking through tissue paper. It is very easy, but it is time consuming. I still prefer it to other methods, it is rather enjoy meandering my way over the design and getting to know it better on the way. I really don't transfer a great deal of the design detail either, just the main outlines - the rest is done 'on the eye' as I go.
I took a few pics as I went and put a little tutorial for Transferring with Tacking here.

I know many who use a water-soluble stabiliser such as Solvy for wool embroidery and love it, but I am personally not a fan of it, mainly because wool is one of the few types of embroidery I work without using a hoop - I just love the feeling of it in my hands. I don't have any stabiliser at home, because I never use it, but I am might get some and show how it works so that you can see the difference and make up your own mind.

After just having finished a project where the stitching was super fine and delicate, it was bliss to sit and soak up a bit of sunshine and fresh air while happily stitching away. I just love these crewel yarns. They are from a smallish New Zealand company and are called Strand. Half mohair and half merino wool, they are super soft and have a lovely sheen to them. They are a little bit tricky to get hold off unless you shop online, but if you get the chance, I can thoroughly recommend them.

Before I head off to enjoy the rest of my weekend and you to yours... thank you so much to everyone for the wonderful comments on the finished Blue Birds. It really meant a lot to me. Have a lovely weekend - I hope you find a bit of creative time.

Best stitches,
Anna x