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Great update! And I am very interested in your comments about parking. I've tried it a few times but got in a complete 
when I had more than 5 or 6 threads dangling (actually stuck in the fabric with their needles). I think it would be great with confetti heavy sections, but that can be 20 colors in 10 x 10 area. Hadn't thought about mixing parking and cross country for some reason. 
20? Pfft.. That's childsplay. The HAED I am working on had an area that had 40 colors per 10x10 square in one area. I had times I wanted to throw the dang thing across the room.richardandtracy wrote:Carole,
I have obviously never come across 'Heavy' confetti. I thought I had with 14 colours in a 10 x 10 square, but 20!?! Yikes. That sounds absolutely horrendous.
And with that many colors, especially since I was working in more than one 10x10 square at a time, there's no way I could leave needles attached to each thread. On the upside, I got really good at threading needles quickly! There's photos of my stitching with the mass of threads hanging in my Kimono Lantern Mermaid thread if you want to see. 
Uh. [tries to get breath back]NeedleAndFork wrote: 20? Pfft.. That's childsplay. The HAED I am working on had an area that had 40 colors per 10x10 square in one area. I had times I wanted to throw the dang thing across the room.
The Kimono Lantern thread was one of the first SAL threads I looked at when I was looking as a guest before joining, and it was one of the threads that convinced me that 'Here is a bunch of people who know what they're doing, AND who seem willing to share their knowledge.'. I didn't get the same feel from a number of other forums (fora?) - they appeared all to be regurgitating the same sort of twee stuff found in many of the more baby/cutesy oriented cross stitch magazines and the level didn't seem to be any more taxing than I was already doing.NeedleAndFork wrote: There's photos of my stitching with the mass of threads hanging in my Kimono Lantern Mermaid thread if you want to see.
I am slowly beginning to see how important this is, and will have to find a way of implementing it that suits the way I like to work. I had an initial idea that it might be nice to use a magnet with strips marked on it so the needle can be stuck to an area marked with the chart key number - but it may well be impractical for short threads and 40[!!!] colours in the same 10 x 10 square. I shall try working it through, anyway.NeedleAndFork wrote: ... The one key thing for me is to mark a parked thread - that's almost more important than marking a completed stitch since I'm leaving several threads of similar shades dangling next to each other. This way I know that if I come to a parked thread in my stitching and it's not marked in my chart, or if the chart says I should have a parked thread and I don't, that something's gone wrong and I can backtrack and find my error. It prevents any confusion by accidently stitching in the wrong color for a symbol because I parked a thread in the wrong spot and had no way of knowing that isn't what it was supposed to be.
I agree. Until using this material, I hadn't realised just how much Aida allows you to get away with, it such a boon for cross stitching. One method I find works, too, is to face a window and have some light from over the shoulder. This allows the needle shadow to be seen when behind the fabric and then when the needle is on the nearside of the fabric, shade the back of the fabric (either with a hand or by swivelling a little to one side of the window) to see the holes from the front. Maybe this only works for me as I'm so short sighted I have to have the work 9" from my nose anyway as opposed to on my lap, and my reading glasses have a minimum in focus distance of about 18", which is too far for this fabric.poppy wrote:...
As I am also stitching on evenweave for the first time, I found that a good source of natural light is essential and putting a dark cloth on my lap helps in seeing the holes more clearly.
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I can't speak for others but I'm enjoying the progress reports and discussion that ensues. And I'm snarky enough to say that if someone doesn't like it, they don't have to read the threadrichardandtracy wrote:
I shall keep up the progress reports, but don't want to bore people by doing too many - I have a problem with being unable to shut up sometimes.
What makes this place a real community is that we don't just post pictures and fawn over each other (though that never hurts!) but we also actually discuss things and learn from each other. Something I learned many years ago on a knitting forum that is now defunct is that there are two kinds of crafters - the kind who make things for the finished product - they're not so interested in the actual process as they are in getting it over with so they have the finished item, and the kind who craft for the love of the craft - they aren't necessarily crafting for the finished product (thats a bonus) but for the love of creating and the craft. These are the process knitters, stitchers, creators, and most often, they are the ones who picked up a craft well before it was trendy to do and will continue to do it well after the trend dies down. They're the ones who are passionate about their craft, about learning new techniques and discussing those techniques with others who're likeminded and are the ones who're likely to carry the craft forward to the next generation discovers it and gets interested in it. I've seen this in every craft that I am interested in - knitting, dyeing, needlework, and spinning, and I think it important that we as crafters continue to discuss and learn from each other - this is how a craft like this continues to live on, rather than die out once a trend fades. I can promise you there's people out there reading who may not have registered for the forum yet, who may not even be passionate stitchers yet, but who're interested.. and posts where we talk about methods and techniques are what will get them to realize there is more to cross stitch than making pictures with thread - that it is a real skill and artform that deserves their attention. She's coming along wonderfully.richardandtracy wrote:I am coming to the conclusion that parking is a bit quicker for confetti, even though the concentration levels have to be MUCH higher.
That high concentration level may relax a bit as you get more practice. I found that my brain didn't have to engage as much and my fingers started just doing it after I got the hang of it. When I first started, it was eyes>brain>fingers. By the time I got to the end of the first page of a full coverage, it was eyes>fingers.
I agree!! We have plenty of room (never gets too crowded) and its lots more fun inside!NeedleAndFork wrote:Psst.. you lurkers.. come join us.. we have cookies!
NeedleAndFork wrote:Though if I find something off in my stitching to where I have to think and figure out what happened, the first thing I do is hit pause on the audio book. It seems I can't think and listen at the same time.
me too. Or I find my mind so absorbed in the stitching that I have to re-listen to the last 5 minutes of audiobook. 
very nice!
