should i stitch line by line or according to thread colour?

[Teffa]

thanks carolyn!

well ok not better than chocolate...just equally satisfying

[Dazbo666]

I haven't been stitching long, but find it easier to work in blocks of colour. Just personal preference I guess, but I prefer to work one colour at a time until I run out and change the floss...
Just for the record the backs of my projects tend to look like plates of spaghetti

[Rose]

The other thing about working with multple threads is if the shades are very close then you can confuse them and then Mr is a constant companion.

[~threadbear~]

it's even better than chocolate

well ok not better than chocolate...just equally satisfying

That's better!!

[Rose]

I knew that would get T-bears attention.

[Teffa]

about the multiple threads...yes that was my huge prob when i stitched my last project...which was a bear gazing at a star ...there was loads of shades of brown considering it was only my 2nd stitching project!! and it scared me a bit...
now i'm doing a grey cat...and after all your advice i'll stick to one colour first it's simpler

[SusanF]

Hello Teffa and another welcome to the forum. As with most of us I stitch blocks of colour. I start in the middle and just sort of wander round the pattern doing blocks of whatever colour I feel in the mood to do! If I'm feeling tired I'll choose something easy with a big block of the same colour, that way I don't need to think too much about it. If I've used all six strands of a cut piece of floss I'm usually bored with that colour by then and will start a new colour completely.

[nettie]

Hi Teffa,

Again I go with SusanF. I tend to start in the middle if there is a block of colour to start with. If not I give the material and dimensions to my mum who (thank god for my mum) counts the stitches and finds the starting point for me in the bottom right hand corner. I hate counting and I try to work in the same are of the fabric and I again thread up with one colour go as far as I can with that and then change. As others have said try the different ways of working you will soon find out which you are most comfortable with. I have been stitching for just over twelve years and tend to find I change how I stitch with each project. I decide where I start from studying the chart and then if there are large blocks of colour I work by block and do it line by line for that block. If not I constantly change the colour on my needle. I have discovered a company called sew it all who do plastich thread organisers in different colours and labelled a - z. I now use these to organise my threads instead of the cards as I just allocate a letter to a symbol.

A tip I saw somewhere a few days ago is try to do your darkest colours first and your lightest colours last as well as sometimes if you do those first the dark overpowers the light and you get stray threads showing through.

And don't fear about your back the people you have seen with immaculate backs must spend more time concentrating on doing it right than actually enjoying watching the side to be seen take shape. My backs are awful I dread the day I try a towel or bib.

Oh and welcome from another newbie

[Teffa]

thanks nettie soo much & double thanks for your tip about starting with dark colours
& welcome

[mags]

I really don't have an opinion on this, but I have read advice to stitch light colours first, otherwise you can pick up dark fluff from the darker colours.

[kimkat_tkl]

Wow I'm suprised to see that most of the replies are cross country stitchers - we go where the mood/pattern takes us.

In the dark/light first - of course like everything it's personal preferance. I don't tend to do either first, just the next colour that takes my fancy except when doing things like eyes, which tend to have white and black and then I always do the white first cause it tends to pick up that stray little bit of black fluff not visable to the naked eye otherwise!

[Serinde]

Hi Teffa, and welcome to the forum from the blazingly sunny West of Scotland.

I have always stitched following blocks of colour. This is especially useful on big, complex patterns. This method also allows you to figure out the best way to approach using the different colours in the design. For example, I'm working on a floral piece at the moment. Lots of colours. By stitching, for example, the colour which represents a leaf rib, I'm able to place the other 7 or eight colours around it to create the rest of the leaf much more easily.

Using blocks of colour also helps in symbol recognition!! Less chance of mixing up "<" and ">"!

Other chat threads here will help you with questions about marking off your copy, pens, charts and all that. But don't be scared to ask any question that pops up.