Large project with multiple shades of olors, getting lost

[coachellacanuck]

I have embarked on a new project that features various shades of gold and brown, some so close in shade it is difficult to tell them apart. The image is that of a face using a very pale tan, a pale tan, a tan, a dark tan, etc. I am getting lost frequently because one color looks so much like the one next to it. Any suggestions on how to approach this project? Should I, for example, complete every stitch in one color before moving on to the next?

Thanks for any advice.

[fccs]

Are you working from a copy of the chart? If so, would highlighting the stitches as you do them help? I always do that and find it helps me. Or perhaps working in 10x10 blocks would be easiser?

[karen4bells]

I agree with Debby---those are the best ways that I can think of!!

[coachellacanuck]

I am working from enlarged photocopied sections of the chart that came with the kit. I was wondering about the idea of using a coloured fine point marker to note the stitches I have already made. This is the most ambitious project I have attempted to date. I am currently working with the colour that appears most on the upper right hand section I am cross stitching first. Then I thought I would work the next most common colour, which is so close in shade to the first as to be near-indistiguishable.

Thanks for the ideas!

[Rose]

Oh yes a working copy of the chart that you can mark on is a must. Even with a simple pattern I make a copy and mark off the stitches that I have worked. It is a huge help to know where you are.

[charmagne_capalad]

hi.... working on a 10x10 block works really great for me especially in doing large projects with confetti colors... and for that 10x10 block i usually work on 1 color first finishing all that shade in a block and then off to the next color and so on until the block is full.

hope you find/discover what will work best for you... i'm sure you'll find it easier later on.... happy stitching

[Nicola Main]

I'd agree with highlighting as you go, I never used to do it but I do now, it's much easier to keep track of what you've done

[19Roland19]

I am working from enlarged photocopied sections of the chart that came with the kit. I was wondering about the idea of using a coloured fine point marker to note the stitches I have already made. This is the most ambitious project I have attempted to date. I am currently working with the colour that appears most on the upper right hand section I am cross stitching first. Then I thought I would work the next most common colour, which is so close in shade to the first as to be near-indistiguishable.

Thanks for the ideas!

I would suggest a flat tipped highlighter; yellow, orange or pink. Those colours are light enough that you can see through them. Even with highlighting, I occasionally make a mistake, and I need to be able to see what the symbol underneath is.

Also, make sure you have an extra (unmarked) copy of the pattern. Consider it the insurance policy.

[wendywombat]

Everyone has covered the way to work the chart...but I have a tip about the colours

Do the darkest and lightest colours first THEN fill in with the medium colour. When you're stitching with shades of the same colour it can get confusing if they are only slightly darker or lighter.

[rcperryls]

I would suggest a flat tipped highlighter; yellow, orange or pink. Those colours are light enough that you can see through them. Even with highlighting, I occasionally make a mistake, and I need to be able to see what the symbol underneath is.

Also, make sure you have an extra (unmarked) copy of the pattern. Consider it the insurance policy.

I agree! I stick with yellow as it is the easiest on my eyes. I don't think I could stitch without a highlighter around.

Carole

[richardandtracy]

I'm doing a portrait of my wife with very gradual shading.
I'm doing the cross-country method & using one colour at a time, working on one chart page at a time simply so I don't get lost.

Seems to work for me.

Regards,

Richard.

[Allyn]

I whole-heartedly agree that highlighting the completed stitches on a working copy of your chart is the way to go. On small, simple designs, it isn't necessary, but on large projects, you have to. Take care if you decide to work in 10x10 blocks as sometimes working that way gives you 10-stitch-wide 'stripes' that can be quite noticeable. Other folks cross-country stitch (working one color at a time), but that opens the possibility of counting mistakes and frogging sections of a fully-stitched piece can be a drag. You also have to take care not to split threads when bringing your needle up in a hole surrounded by already completed stitches. For large projects, I prefer to use the parking method. I don't lose my place, I don't make counting mistakes (or if I do, I catch them before a stitch is put in the wrong place), and I don't miss stray stitches in the field. You can find a parking tutorial here: http://www.scarletquince.com/parking.php" target="_blank
No matter how you decide to tackle it, highlighting completed stitches is a must on large projects.

[coachellacanuck]

I can't begin to describe how grateful I am for all these suggestions. It has been quite an education. I am going to do more research into "cross country" and "parking" and thanks for the link to the tutorial. I am off to get a yellow highliter pen and then backtrack a bit and mark off the stitches I have completed.

Ta!

[NeedleAndFork]

I'll go against the general consensus and suggest using the parking method of stitching. Maybe stitch all of one color in a 10x10 square, and then park it in the first place it is used in the next 10x10 square. Mark the completed stitches in one color of highlighter, say orange.. then mark the spot where the thread is parked in the next square in yellow. Then repeat with the next color.. and so on and so forth. The highlighted stitch in the next square is a visual reminder that you've got a thread parked there - as long as there is a thread there when you get to that stitch, you know all is well. If there's a thread and no highlighted box, or a highlighted box and no thread, you know something has gone awry. Fortunately you'll probably not have to frog more than the 10x10 block at most. If you wanted you could do this by single rows within the 10x10 area.. stitching all of a color in a row of 10 stitches and parking in the next row that it is used... or ditch the 10x10 box entirely and just work where the pattern takes you.

Also.. getting organized with all your floss beforehand is incredibly important when you have a lot of colors, especially if they are similar. I like to make myself a project card where I cut a single length of floss in each color needed and mark it with the DMC number as well as the symbol. Here's a sample of the one I'm using for my current project.




Normally I would suggest drawing the symbols next to each hole in addition to the numbers, but this particular pattern has lots of blends, and sometimes uses the same color with different numbers of strands or for both full and half crosses, so rather than have a hole for each possible option inside resulting in multiple holes for hte same color of floss, I made a reference on the outside to go by.

[coachellacanuck]

This has all been so helpful! The first thing I did was put the floss that came with the kit on cardboard bobbins and number them, and it never occurred to me to add the symbol for that colour as well. Gonna do that too! Thanks!

[19Roland19]

I do like that idea of doing all of a colour in a 10x10 and parking in the next one. I may try that one day.

I use the cardboard bobbins for my thread, and file it in numerical order. I don't put the symbols on the bobbins because then I would need a new bobbin for each project.

I do print off an extra copy of the list of numbers and symbols, and cut and paste it into numerical order, so when I have a thread in my hand and can't remember what I 'm supposed to be stitching it's easy to look it up.

[coachellacanuck]

"Parking" isn't working out so well since some of the colours are so close that when parked I can't tell which is which. Frustrating so I have reverted to what I guess would be called "cross country" and completing all of one colour in a section, anchoring the floss and cutting it off and then moving on to the next most-frequently used colour in that section. Sometimes the result is not as neat as I would like but I cross stitch to relax so minimizing the frustration is more of a priority.

[Brekkana]

"Parking" isn't working out so well since some of the colours are so close that when parked I can't tell which is which. Frustrating so I have reverted to what I guess would be called "cross country" and completing all of one colour in a section, anchoring the floss and cutting it off and then moving on to the next most-frequently used colour in that section. Sometimes the result is not as neat as I would like but I cross stitch to relax so minimizing the frustration is more of a priority.

I tried parking as well, and have reverted back to cross country, but keeping it to the page I am working on. Good luck, I cross stitch for relaxation as well

[Allyn]

"Parking" isn't working out so well since some of the colours are so close that when parked I can't tell which is which. Frustrating so I have reverted to what I guess would be called "cross country" and completing all of one colour in a section, anchoring the floss and cutting it off and then moving on to the next most-frequently used colour in that section. Sometimes the result is not as neat as I would like but I cross stitch to relax so minimizing the frustration is more of a priority.

We all find what works best for us. I find parking a lot easier especially when I have several colors that are so close I can't tell them apart. Parking relieves me of having to tell one color from the other because I know that whatever thread is in the hole I have marked on the chart, it's the right color for that symbol and the stitch goes in that spot. (You were marking your parked threads on your chart, I assume.) If I try cross-country stitching them, it turns into a big mess because I can't tell the colors apart; and one miscount and the whole section has to be frogged. We all find what works best for us.

[Fizzbw]

I can't get my head round parking ....yet.....never say never.

I have a chart highlighting routine where I highlight the one symbol I'm going to work on in one colour, then when I have stitched it I shade it in in pencil and then highlight another symbol. This way you work as much with the pattern of the stitches as your brain Matches the pattern of the highlights with the pattern you are stitching, which makes it fast and easy to check you haven't gone wrong.

If I'm working on so etching with confetti I usually highlight about 5-8 different symbols with my lovely different coloured highlighters and you soon learn to one see the. Ok our you are working on.

If you make a mistake or find an empty space, it's easy to erase the pencil and see what you missed.

Niki xxx