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SAVAGE BLOCKING

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#blocking #knitting #shawl

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PLAYING (WITH) POSSUM

Fueled by Friend Kim who surprised me with a yarn gift, I dawdle a bit more in the Land of Knitting. I’ve done a ton of socks since finishing my Unstitched Coif submission – 14 pairs to be precise. But charmed by this super soft yarn I decided to do up a larger project – a shawl. First the yarn. It’s an exotic fiber – a blend of possum and merino – the yarn on the right in the photo below. It’s…

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#exotic fibers #knitting #shawl

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LOOKING BACK AT AN OLD PROJECT

I’ve been tidying up my closets and drawers. I stumbled across a couple of items that I haven’t worn in a long time. Luckily they still fit well enough, so they’ve been rescued and added to the regular rotation. One was this T-shirt style pullover. It’s one of the most intricate projects I did, mostly because I designed it myself. I did it back before Russian language sites became notorious for…

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#knitting pattern #lacy knitting #t-shirt

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ELIZABETH HARDWICK ON BIAS?

Once again a chance image on Facebook throws me into a frenzy of charting. The Friends of Sheffield Manor group posted this image of Elizabeth Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsberry. attributed to the school of Hans Elworth. It’s accession 1129165 of the UK’s National Trust collection. Yes, this is THAT Bess of Hardwick. This portrait is at Hardwick Hall, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire in the…

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#blackwork embroidery #counted thread embroidery

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A SUPPORTING CAST OF GRIFFINS

Friend Craig posted a memory last week, and re-shared a chart he adapted from one of the Siebmacher modelbooks – from the 1611 edition. It got me to thinking. Those heraldic style charted bands appear over many years, and in several iterations. It might be fun to see how they assorted over time. So I went hunting. I combed through my notes, the Internet Archive’s collection of modelbook images,…

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#counted thread embroidery #early modelbooks #embroidery history

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A HOLBEIN COLLAR

Special thanks to Karen over at the Elizabethan Costume group on Facebook, who visited the current “Holbein at the Tudor Court” exhibit a the Queen’s Gallery, and came away with an assortment of extreme close-up photos of various clothing details. One of them showed an intimate view of the portrait of Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, a painting in the Royal Collection. The Duke died in 1554.…

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#blackwork #embroidery pattern

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VALENTINE'S DAY 2024

Among my other projects, I’m working away on sequels to my two book series. Those who know me know better than to ask when they will be released, but progress is being steadily made on The Third Carolingian Modelbook, and on Ensamplario Atlantio Volume III.  EnsAtl3 is moving along faster, in part because it’s largely my own doodles with no time spent researching, documenting, writing prose…

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#blackwork embroidery #embroidery charts

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New gallery page on String-or-Nothing.com

#counted thread embroidery #blackwork embroidery #knitting

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FILE FOLDER ARCHAEOLOGY

It happens that this week a couple of people have stumbled upon this old unfinished sampler that now hangs on my Wall of Shame.  It’s unfinished because I had started it as a wedding present for a friend. Sadly her engagement ended before the wedding. I never felt like finishing it off after that, although I still have it. It’s also the only piece I have ever done on Aida. I didn’t enjoy working…

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#charted embroidery #hebrew #knitting patterns #sampler alphabet #sock knitting #workshop handout

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A NEW CLUSTER OF HERESIES

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#embroidery #embroidery on denim #embroidery shortcuts #sashiko

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BEGINNINGS - CHAIR RESCUE IN USED DENIM

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#chair cushion #sashiko #upcycled denim #upholstery

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CHATELAINE RIBBON FINISH

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#blackwork embroidery

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BUSY END TO THE YEAR

No doubt it has been a hectic end of year, what with the standard end of year activities plus the finish on the coif project, and the lightning trip to the UK to view the final exhibit. But that doesn’t mean that other things have languished.  First, because the holiday can’t happen without cookies, even if I am not around to make them all, I present our 2023 cookie plate. Some slimmed down to…

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#cookies

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THE UNSTITCHED COIF EXHIBIT

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#blackwork #counted thread #embroidery history #embroidery reproduction

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REVISITING THE OYSTERS

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#baking #cookies #keto baking #recipe

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A SLIMMED DOWN GINGER

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#baking #keto baking #Triple Ginger cookies

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A SPANISH GENTLEMAN AND HIS COLLAR

Once again discussions on Facebook have brought a portrait to my attention. Elspeth over at Elizabethan Costume has found something I’ve been seeking for a long time. An portrait of an individual with a Spanish name, with a sitter that is wearing what we would describe as blackwork. While 19th and 20th century discussions of blackwork in the Tudor period often call it Spanish Blackwork, and…

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#blackwork embroidery #counted thread embroidery