I finished Before Dawn

... well, I wasn't up stitching before dawn, I am not an early starter by any stretch of the imagination, but I finished the little piece of doodle stitching I have been working on.
When I showed you the piece a bit more than a week ago, it looked like this...

BEFORE DAWN - Work in progress

You may remember I was filling the last background area with close rows of stem stitch... it is oh, so very slow, but I really do like the look of the smooth almost woven look when it is finished.

BEFORE DAWN - detail

I was using the pink and adding lines of the same straw colour that I used for some of the dots for this section and I was not completely sure about these colours. Looking at it finished, I think it works - pink, but not too pink. What do you think?
Next was the last sparkly dot filled with chipping...

Chipping is a goldwork technique where a fine wire coil called a purl, is chopped into tiny pieces (sorry about the blurry photo). Each piece is about as long as it is wide, and yes - tiny.

They are then stitched down, the same way you would a bead. Each little chip in a different direction. When you use a check purl, you get this lovely sparkly finish.
With the last dot done, the only thing left was the French knots..

BEFORE DAWN - Detail

 A river of French knots...

BEFORE DAWN - Detail

... and, Ta-daaaa

BEFORE DAWN by Anna Scott

I have had it sitting on a table for a few days now, trying to decide which way it up and I think this is it.
This has been such a pleasure to stitch and as much as I wanted to finish, I (like always) feel a little bit sad and at a loss now that it is finished. Lucky I know just the cure for that...

... start something new!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend.
Best Stitches
Anna X