Parking Tips/Tricks

[ChicagoMay]

Hey all! Last couple days I've been reading through the forums that mentioned parking in the titles, and I understand the basics of it, but I'm making myself anxious about it while I wait for my supplies to arrive in the mail Because my new project is full of confetti, I think parking will make it easier for securing those confetti starts and finishes, but I wanted to get some tips and tricks, and ask a few questions so that I can ease my mind.

My big question is does it matter where I start on the chart. It seems like most people start top left and work in 10x10 boxes or columns. I would like to start bottom left and work up. Would this affect anything? Is there any reasons I shouldn't do this? The chart calls for 2 over 1, and I don't want to be piercing the threads when coming up through the partly filled holes, but I don't know if starting from the bottom will affect anything.

Also, if anyone has any tips and tricks for parking, I would appreciate them

Links for others interested in the parking method [Will edit to add more]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuTXsIRttTA" target="_blank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82dp9kK4tK8" target="_blank
http://www.scarletquince.com/parking.php" target="_blank

[Serinde]

Once upon a time, stitchers used to start at the bottom and work up, so if that's what makes you comfortable, then, by all means, that's the way for you to go. It seems to me that parking might be a bit more straightforward if you are starting at the bottom?

[richardandtracy]

I do find it easier if working down or right, that way the fabric is clear on the side when the needle is coming back through the fabric, and it's easier to see its shadow through the fabric.

To make it easy working upwards, standardise on a cross going top right to bottom left then top left to bottom right. That would make all emergences of the needle from the clear part of the fabric.

Regards,

Richard.

[ChicagoMay]

To make it easy working upwards, standardise on a cross going top right to bottom left then top left to bottom right.

*eye twitch* That just seems so wrong! LOL I will definitely consider that though, I think I understand what you mean.

[richardandtracy]

I agree, having done about 150000 stitches bottom left to top right then bottom right to top left, not sure I could manage it either.

Regards,

Richard.

[NeedleAndFork]

To make it easy working upwards, standardise on a cross going top right to bottom left then top left to bottom right.

*eye twitch* That just seems so wrong! LOL I will definitely consider that though, I think I understand what you mean.

You'll be surprised how quickly it becomes natural once you start parking. I park in all sorts of different directions and it all seems normal now - the only strict rules are that I stitch all top legs in the same direction, and that I don't leave 'holes' in my stitching where the stitches are surrounded on all 4 sides by completed stitches. That said, I personally would go a bit batty trying to park bottom to top I think. Mainly because stitching top down, gravity helps with keeping the parked threads where you want them. But if you can get it to work for you, great!

[richardandtracy]

Started experimenting last night with my current wip (Luis Royo's Uranos Drops), and ran out of needles. I only possess 7 needles and there are more colours than that in the leg tattoo I'm working on.

It was interesting, and possibly slower than going cross country. I confess that the back is just the same mess as it was, but it is easier to do each individual stitch without separating the strands of the ones around it. It was quite hard to keep track of where to park each colour and remember which one I was working with as it changed almost every other stitch.

I shall persist until I have given it a decent try (several thousand stitches), before I decide whether or not to continue with the method.

Regards,

Richard.

[kinley626]

I prefer to start from the top left and work right and down, especially when parking on a BAP. I make my first leg with / and then cross \. So working from the top, the parked thread sits in (comes up through) a clean hole. I don't leave needles on parked threads. Too many tangles. That being said, experimenting is the best way to find your own technique. If working from the bottom makes sense to you, then you should certainly start that way. It took me a little bit to get comfortable with parking, but I really like it.

[Allyn]

Started experimenting last night with my current wip (Luis Royo's Uranos Drops), and ran out of needles. I only possess 7 needles and there are more colours than that in the leg tattoo I'm working on.

It was interesting, and possibly slower than going cross country. I confess that the back is just the same mess as it was, but it is easier to do each individual stitch without separating the strands of the ones around it. It was quite hard to keep track of where to park each colour and remember which one I was working with as it changed almost every other stitch.....

Some folks use just one needle, and thread and unthread it for each color change. I found that too annoying when I had to thread it for every stitch or two. I got a bulk supply of Bohin needles so I can leave the needles threaded, which makes it faster for me. I use three magnetic strips to secure the threaded needles. That keeps my threads from tangling. If you stitch from bottom to top, the magnetic strips would also hold your needles and keep your threads out of the way. When you park a thread, pull the thread taut to the magnetic strip and then trap it under ther needle to hold it in place. Holding the threads like that, it doesn't matter if you stitch top to bottom or bottom to top.


(You wouldn't have to have that many needles going at once. Those are my parks for the whole page I'm working on there.)

The part that slowed me down when I first started parking was looking at the pattern and planning my 'attack' -- deciding which symbols to do first so the subsequent stitches captured tails and floaters. Once I got the hang of my strategy, my backs neatened up; and my speed increased because I wasn't spending so much time studying the pattern. I use the parking method out of the Scarlet Quince tutorials in which you don't put a stitch in that leaves an empty hole above it. I feel like that makes neater backs than cross-country stitching in 10x10 blocks, but I can't say for sure because I don't cross-country anymore and I don't work in 10x10 blocks.

Do you mark your parked threads on your pattern?

[richardandtracy]

Allyn,

Your method is pretty much what I was getting to myself. I'm doing a multi-coloured leg tattoo, and the most contiguous same colour stitches is 5 stitches, with a large number of singles. There are 14 colours in one 10 x 10 block out of the total of 30 in the whole project, and two colours have only 2 stitches in the area. Changing needle every colour would have been totally impractical.
The chart for this area is (Note for Mods: I hold the copyright for this chart having created both it and the program that made the chart, so it's not infringing any copyright rules):


I do have a problem with this method, though: It leaves lots of threads attached.
We have 4 cats at home, and they are busy enough for it to seem like there are 40 at times. One fleabag in particular is young and playful, and is very interested in loose threads.

I'll look out some magnet strips today when I get some more needles. I've tried our fridge magnets, but they aren't strong enough, and the mini (3mm dia magnets) we have are too strong and would end up attracting all sorts of stuff including any swarf I have in my clothes from my metal lathe.

Finally, no, I don't mark the chart. The only markings I ever put on the chart are the start and end date for the page. I'm too worried about the marker spreading everywhere. I am a fountain pen nut and always carry at least one with me to use, and some of the exotic inks I use tend to take a while to dry & a few smear onto fingers or just spread about a bit. I don't want it to do that onto the threads, as it will inevitably turn permanent the instant the ink gets onto something precious!

Regards,

Richard.

[Allyn]

...I'll look out some magnet strips today when I get some more needles. I've tried our fridge magnets, but they aren't strong enough, and the mini (3mm dia magnets) we have are too strong and would end up attracting all sorts of stuff including any swarf I have in my clothes from my metal lathe.

Finally, no, I don't mark the chart. The only markings I ever put on the chart are the start and end date for the page. I'm too worried about the marker spreading everywhere. I am a fountain pen nut and always carry at least one with me to use, and some of the exotic inks I use tend to take a while to dry & a few smear onto fingers or just spread about a bit. I don't want it to do that onto the threads, as it will inevitably turn permanent the instant the ink gets onto something precious!....

Yes, I agree. Frig magnets aren't strong enough. They'll barely hold a needle and won't hold at all with a piece of fabric between a pair of them. I get my magnets -- the round ones and the magnetic tape -- from Home Depot or Lowes. I don't know what the equivalent is in the UK. They're big warehouse home supply stores -- like hardware stores on steroids. I don't have the problem of metal bits in my clothes, so I can't make recommendations, but my round magnets are strong enough to grab my scissors, trolley needle and hemostats when they get close. I bought a long length of magnetic tape with an adhesive backing (http://www.lowes.com/pd_189477-37672-54 ... Id=3115789" target="_blank) and I bought a length of plastic cover for a shower curtain rod (http://www.rona.ca/en/shower-rod-cover--p0692316" target="_blank). I cut the rod cover into 60 cm lengths and then cut lengths of the magnetic tape a little shorter. I peeled the protective film off the adhesive on the back of the magnetic tapes and then adhered them to the rod covers. I then snapped the rod covers over the rods on my scroll frame. In the picture in my previous post, you can see my contraptions on the upper and lower rods. The magnetic tape is plenty strong enough to hold the needles with thread trapped under them, but they aren't strong enough to grab my scissors, trolley needle or hemostats.

If you're a devoted fountain pen person, I don't know what to offer as far as marking the parked threads. I use highlighters and I print my working copies on 24-lb paper so the ink doesn't bleed through the paper. The chart I'm doing is every bit as confetti-heavy as that tattooed area and I'd get lost if I couldn't mark my parked threads. Seeing in the chart where my parks are helps me plan my strategy.

[ChicagoMay]

magnetic tape

Beautiful invention! My bought some off eBay, but it isn't super strong. I use it in my thread boxes to hold needles between sessions and if I close the lid too hard then it falls off. Next time I'm in HomeDepot, I'll look for some if I end up keeping needles on while parking. I don't think I'm too slow with the threading though. Will have to try without first.

One of the things that bugs me about parking is that you always come up in the bottom holes for every stitch, but I feel like I'm wasting thread if I don't travel the least distance... Example:

O O O
O O O

If that is my pattern and I just finished the top row, my thread frugal-ness would want me to start the 2nd row in the top right of the first stitch for the bottom / leg. Anyone else like me in this sense?

[Allyn]

...One of the things that bugs me about parking is that you always come up in the bottom holes for every stitch, but I feel like I'm wasting thread if I don't travel the least distance... Example:

O O O
O O O

If that is my pattern and I just finished the top row, my thread frugal-ness would want me to start the 2nd row in the top right of the first stitch for the bottom / leg. Anyone else like me in this sense?

I don't do that, but I understand what you're saying and I know other folks here do that, too. It's been suggested in other discussions, when parking, that you park the thread in the same hole in every stitch so you don't get lost (is that park in the upper right hole or the lower left hole for the stitch?). Let's say you park in the lower left hole. That doesn't mean you have to keep it there. When you get to a park for a stitch that should be started in the upper right hole, push the needle back down in its hole and then bring it back up in the hole you want to start in. It would create an extra action for that stitch, but it would satisfy your thread-frugalness.

[richardandtracy]

Thanks, Allyn.

Did try a diy box, but they referred me straight back to the craft shop that had suggested them...
Gaagh!

Regards,

Richard

[ChicagoMay]

Any tips for avoiding lines where all the columns meet?

[cairee]

Any tips for avoiding lines where all the columns meet?

yes! dont keep perfectly clean lines. if a color continues into the next box, do that stitch to.

see how there are stitches that carry into the next column, that keeps lines from showing up quite well

[Allyn]

Any tips for avoiding lines where all the columns meet?

Yes, what cairee said. Don't stitch in strict 10x10 blocks, especially if there's a lot of solid color.

[ChicagoMay]

Okay, thanks guys! I'm so impatient to start XD Will be a few more days until I get my supplies though!

[hollywould89]

OP, what supplies did you order for parking? i just came across this technique a couple days ago so i'm not really sure what all is required

[Allyn]

OP, what supplies did you order for parking? i just came across this technique a couple days ago so i'm not really sure what all is required

Well, you don't really need extra supplies to park. She probably meant the supplies for her project. You don't need anything extra (except for needles if you plan to keep your colors threaded as you park). Some folks park with one needle and thread each color as it's needed for a stitch; and some folks keep everything threaded, which requires multiple needles going at once. The single-needlers can't imagine how the multi-needlers keep the threads from getting tangled, and the multi-needlers can't imagine how the single-needlers can be bothered threading and unthreading the colors for each stitch.