It's always nice to have certitude. While I was working on the flowers on this crewel embroidery project, knotting away with French knot fillings on each petal, it suddenly struck me that maybe I should be considering a different stitch. Maybe the French knots weren't the way to go. Maybe I should consider long and short stitch.
Fortunately, this design has two of the exact same flowers on it. So rather than pick out stitches on the flower I was almost finished with, try long and short stitch, not like it, rip it out, and put the French knots back in (oooooh, just writing all that was painful!), I just jumped over the other flower and gave long and short stitch a try.
It has potential. Each petal, though, would need something textured along the outside rim, to make the individual petals stand out. I could have started with buttonhole stitch, like I did with the petals on the French knot flowers, and then worked long and short stitch from there, I suppose.
My thought was that, if I kept the inside of the petal very dark, then the next layer of petals (starting on their outside rim with the lightest thread) would really stand out.
And they might have. But the first petal didn't grab me. I went ahead with the French knots with a bit more certitude.
There's something about the buttonhole stitch that looks a little rough. The ruffling of the second layer makes it look messy - and the variation in stitch placement doesn't help. This "messiness" is more aggravated, though, by the contrast in colors - the very light outer edge of the petals really stands out against the dark.
Seeing the piece from a different angle changes it slightly. I like it ok, I guess.
I didn't spend much time stitching on Saturday (which makes it highly unlikely that I will meet my January 31st deadline and have this finished today). This is as far as I got. The stamens are worked in a very padded satin stitch - three layers of thread there, building on top of each other.
Today, I'll finish those little round blobs of wool, and then hopefully make some headway on the second flower. I'll re-adjust my deadline to Wednesday.
For further posts on this crewel embroidery project, feel free to visit the following links:
Free Hand Embroidery Pattern for The Crewel Rooster
Setting up The Crewel Rooster Project
Choosing Threads for The Crewel Rooster - and the first flower
Crewel Design Books
Stem Stitch Filling on Flower Stems
Scalloped Feathers on the Rooster's Body
The Beginnings of the Rooster's Tail
French Knots on the Wattle
Adding the First Blue Feather using a Raised Backstitch
The Rooster Tail, Finished for Now
The Wing - Three Attempts
Adjusting the Tail Feathers One More Time
The Rooster's Head, Neck, and Comb
The First Flower Attempt Comes Out
New Colors for the Flowers
Lots of Knots
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