COUNTED THREAD

2006-11-12T22:20:00.000+05:30

This is a Huck embroidery tablecloth we did in Needlework Class when I was in class IX - 1982. It looks a bit shabby close up as I never bothered to hand wash it.

Here is the close-up anyway.

2006-10-17T22:32:00.000+05:30

A couple of friends and I have decided to go for a walk atleast three days a week. The crazy thing is the only time all 3 of us are free is between 2 p.m to 3.30 pm.
We try to have an early lunch (around 12.30 p.m) and go out with shopping bags braving the hot afternoon sun. Our husbands call us crazy and mine says the sun is making me crazier. All in all we are having a nice time.

Here are the patterns I promised.

I found the first pattern in the second picture in a shoping bag that used to belong to my grandmother who passed away 5 years ago. It was done as a repeat all over pattern on pista green fabric. She had used the basic green, blue and red threads for the embroidery.The piece is very old probably 40 yrs. Figuring out how the pattern was done was a bit difficult as the piece was obviously washed and ironed several times over the years. It is actually very simple as you can see by clicking on the picture for a larger version.

I don't particularly like the next two patterns. But I have learnt over the years that one man's posion is another man's food. There is no telling what my students will like. This after all is a sampler of patterns.

HUCK EMBROIDERY

2006-10-12T12:30:00.000+05:30

Been real busy. Fired the maid and my son's Hindi tution master. Finally got fed up with them. The maid does'nt turn up especially when I am ill or I have some guests at home. She delights in taking French leave. The Hindi master turns up only two days a week instead of the agreed upon 3 days. Also I realised during the quarterly examination, that my son did not even know the basics of Hindi grammar.So I decided to take over completely both the house work and teaching my son Hindi.
Housework eats into a major portion of my time and energy. Teaching Hindi is even more difficult because all I know is to read and write the language. I have equipped myself with some basic grammar books and a Hindi to English Dict and an English To Hindi dict. We are happily blundering on, teaching each other. Its more than a week since we started and both of us are now able to form grammatically correct sentences.

I wish there are more hours in a day to do all the things I want to do.

I am posting a couple of Huck embroidery patterns I managed to get done for my Huck Sampler.

There are a few more patterns I am working on. I'll post pictures as soon as I complete them.

LARGARTERA EMBROIDERY LINK

2006-07-19T18:26:00.000+05:30

When I started blogging, I hoped to manage atleast two posts a week. Looks like I was too ambitious. I obviously did not give allowance to kids, myself or family members falling sick, classes, constant updating of class notes, my craze for reading and gardening, housework, my-oh-too many unfinished projects... the list is endless. There simply doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day to do everything I want to do.

I finally found a link to Lagartera Embroidery that lists atleast 50 borders. Check this outCenefas de Lagartera. The google search word I used was Lagartera instead of the usual Lagartera Embroidery. I must admit it was accidental but I was in luck. The fifth site listed has these wonderful borders using the flat stitch, the stroke stitch and the four-sided stitch that are associated with Lagartera embroidery. I have started a sampler of these borders. It is a strain but well worth the effort. Add one more to my list of unfinished projects.

LARGARTERA EMBROIDERY

2006-07-12T18:28:00.000+05:30

Lagartera is a style of Spanish Embroidery. The main stitches used are stroke stitch, the satin stitch blocks and the four-sided stitch. This information I gathered from the four Lagartera charts from old needlework magazines in my collection.

I decided to use these stitches and dream up my own combination and this is what I came up with. I am yet to chart it. I simply started at the center and added stitches as the mood took me.

Here is a larger version of the picture.

There is not much information available on this stlye on the web except that it originated in the town of Lagartera. There was a mention in Sharon's blog of this stlye.

I am still looking for information. I hope to find it.

HUCK EMBROIDERY

2006-07-08T10:43:00.000+05:30

My latest project is Huck embroidery. I have started embroidering a table cloth in this style. It might end up as a runner.

For a larger picture click here

I have 7 uncles on my mother’s side. But for 2 the rest were craft enthusiasts. One of them still is. She does a lot of Huck embroidery. Her son-in-law is an engineer in the army and they get free army issue toweling cloth (I don’t know why this fabric is called so, maybe they were originally issued to be used as towels) on which this style of embroidery is done. Every time she visits her daughter in Delhi, she gets together with the neighbors to embroider. The funny thing is my aunt speaks only Tamil or Telugu and her embroidery friends speak only Hindi. God knows how they manage to communicate. But she comes back with a lot of lovely patterns copied from somebody’s grandmother’s shopping bag or somebody’s mother-in-law’s tablecloth embroidered some 20 – 50 years ago. And every time I visit her, I have something new to add to my collection.
Over the years I have accumulated quite a few patterns myself, some from my own grandmother, some from my mother’s imagination, some others from my school days, some from the collections of my students’ mothers or mothers – in – law. I found it mostly done on shopping bags.
For those of you interested in pursuing this easy –to – do style, here is a free pattern link.
free pattern 1

For more information about Huck embroidery, try these links.

http://averyhill.com/Instructions/Instructions.html
http://averyhill.com/index.htm

While researching the subject this morning, I found this blog

Janet McCaffrey has posted some samples and the pictures are very clear.

Complete Guide to Needlework – A Reader’s Digest Publication has a chapter on this topic.

2006-06-15T16:12:00.000+05:30

This pattern is from TH.De. Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework.
Done seven years back - my first attempt at Drawn Thread Embroidery.

This is one of my unfinished projects. I cut the wrong thread accidentally and it has been lying around for atleast five years now. Any ideas for salvaging this will be welcome.