Elizabethan twist is a real metal thread used in goldwork embroidery. It’s very fine, and it’s made out of two even finer gold threads lightly twisted together. This is the stuff that is outlining most of the embroidered elements on the floral glove project. I love Elizabethan twist – it’s delicate, pretty, and adds just the right amount of gold sparkle around the edges of the silk embroidery. I finally managed to finish outlining the central flower on the project, so I thought I’d show you some progress!

Thanks for all the feedback on the flower fix, by the way! I appreciate all the different opinions on it, and while I agree that what it boils down to is what I like, since it’s my project, I still like to hear what other folks have to say about it. The one thing, I think, that really makes me happy with the flower as it is now is that it looks fairly identical to the one in the instructions, so I don’t feel like I’ve missed the boat, somehow, on the way the flower was supposed to come out. And now that the gold’s on it, I like it even better!

I’m a fan of side shots when working with silk and gold. The lighting isn’t the best here, but it at least allows a pretty good idea of the magnificent sheen of the Soie de Paris. This is going to end up being my new favorite thread, methinks! It’s a filament silk, lightly twisted, and it’s just gorgeous. But I went on about it last time, so I’ll spare you the ramblings again!!

This is where I am right now, and I’m hoping to put in some time today and get the gold onto the medallions on the lower part of the design.

The calix on the flower on the right is a bit sloppy, compared to the one on the left, which is (in my opinion) too symmetrical. But you know what? Neither of these bother me that much! They’re ok. The metal thread used on the calix is actually an olive-colored purl. At first, I thought it was silk purl, but in fact, it’s not. And that’s ok! I’ll show you this stuff up close later on, and talk a bit about handling it. Purl is a paradoxical metal thread – your fingernails can be your best friend or your worst enemy when working with the stuff!

So that’s where this project is. The blackwork fish is still hanging about, too, waiting to be finished up this week. At the end of this last week, all my family visiting from far away places left for home, and now Summer vacation is underway. I’m pretty sure it’ll be a good one! I’ll be on the road for a while in a couple weeks, but I’ll be keeping up with the blog while traveling. I hope to be able to show you some relevant “gems” along my vacation route! I’ll be stopping in at Winterthur at some point to see the Plimoth Jacket, which will be a real treat, and there are a few other places I’m hankering to visit that I hope will be of interest.

On that note, I’m still open for guest contributors for Needle ‘n Thread, if you’d like to read about the details. I’ve had a good response, but there’s still a few spaces left, so if you’re interested, don’t hesitate to contact me!

Enjoy the end of the weekend, and stay tuned this coming week for a fun give-away!