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Great start! Is that Laverne? She's very helpful...

She can be under a bed when I start stitching and she shows up. She can be in the back of a closet and if I pull out the camera she shows up. If I want to put "Frontline" on the back of their necks, she disappears and I don't have a clue where to find her. Shirley is much more interested in the computer and in food.

Glad you are okay. I assume since you are posting that you didn't flood? When I realized that you are in Vermont and not just Canada I got a bit worried. Hope you didn't get much, if any, damage.

Carole

Very good start!!!! So amny are working on this one it is fun to see all of the different styles!!!!!

Looking lovely Carole. Great start on the TOS and I love the fabric you've chosen. Can't wait to see the leaves start to appear.

You have made a great start

great start, but I am thinking of starting over. I HATE STITCHING OVER 2. I am thinking of
what little I have and starting over (hopefully on the same fabric) 1 over 1 on 28 ct. its small but I am now used to it and I think if I do 1 over 1 it will work fine. It has been so long since I have stitched over 2 that I am slowly going nuts with the counting. I've done smyrna x stitches before but when I realized that everything was over 1 square (not 2 which would have been the equivalent of 1 x stitch), I couldn't figure out where the problem was. not worth it. either doing this on 22 ct 2 over 1 or this one if the fabric still is okay after I pull out all those lovely satin x stitches I did. fortunately, I hadn't gotten way too far before I realized it, like on part 10 or something.
will be back when I have gotten caught up again. I am going to do this, but now I guess the silks will be here on time.

Carole

So sorry to hear that Carole, but it is better for you to do this now than to keep on when you aren't having fun with it! I hope you find a material that will be more doable for you! I'm looking forward to your new start

carole, could you just go on from this point w/ the 1 over 1, and leave what's already done?

your work is so lovely, it's a shame to undo ...

Awwww, is it really that bad that you need to start over? 'Cus it looks so lovely so far!

thank you all, but when I decided to start over I ripped it out. No, it wasn't so bad, but I really hated the over 2. It was giving me a headache and it wasn't fun. What I'm not sure about and have asked Abi (the designer) if the TOS can be done as a 1 over 1. I don't know what the other stitches will require. If it can, I will try it again. If not, I am going to try the next SAL over there or be wonderfully happy with my HAED addiction, my 3 designs I have already and the dragon motif afghan I am planning and my fairy afghan to finish and my grandchildren's pictures which I have put off. I wanted to do it mostly because I think learning new stitches is fun and also because I really like the idea of the SAL. So, ya'll be the first to know. In the meantime, I am going back to Frodo. I am almost 1/3 of the way through page 4.

Carole

You definitely need to be happy with what you have. I hope it works well 1 over 1. And I can't wait to see more of Frodo!

Got an answer from Nancy basically saying wait till Abi wakes up, but that the specialty stitches (which I thought) require stitching over 2. I might try it with a larger ct, but am considering just admiring everyone else's this go round and stiitching away at frodo. The second chain has taken shape. and now I'm back to black.

One of the best parts about the forums though is that I really do love seeing everyone else's work on things that I'm not doing. So if I don't do this one, I don't really lose. I just get more time for my HAED's and my afghan. Fairies and then dragons!

Carole

Carole - sorry to hear you've had a rough time with TOS - your part one was so beautifully stitched over 2! I know Abi will help if she can and of course we are all here for support too. I love the Forum but sometimes there is just no substitute to having someone sat next to you when you just can't get something! Before HAEDs came along I always stitched over 2 as I hate 14ct aida (sorry to those that love it!) I swapped everything to 28ct evenweave. But if you're not used to it and on top of that learning new stitches I could see how you would end up with a headache! I don't know if it would help stitching a few of the new stitches on a larger count over 2 to get the feel and rhythm for it and the 'look' of the stitches - and then try stitching on the 28ct?

Even after everyone's help and advice - at the end of the day if you are not having fun then it isn't worth doing! Frodo needs you anyway........

Abi responded with a lovely long email. I am going to get some linen and spend time learning how to do the over 2. I was counting "squares" not threads. I thought about the bigger counts als, but I think I will continue to do the same thing with them and not change the way I am looking at the fabric. I love aida also though my preference has always been 18ct. Anyway, gonna take a break and then try the linen,as Abi suggested. I will keep ya'll posted. I've bookmarked this thread so I can get back to it when I'm ready.
In the meantime, frodo, cats, fairies and dragons await!!

Carole

I read Abi's advice to you and I'm glad you're going to try again -- it's such a great project to stitch and as she said it is getting used to a different style of stitching.

Having said that, if you experiment and try again and find (as some people do) that you really do not enjoy working with evenweave/linen, then don't feel you "have" to; it is your hobby, for your enjoyment, so you choose what you want to stitch on! Some designs may not work on aida, but then there are such a lot of great projects that will, so you're unlikely to run out of things to stitch

Thank you Mabel. and all of you who have responded to this. I am going to try once more and if I don't like it, that will be okay. The one thing I know for sure is that I won't run out of things to stitch. I remember quite a few years ago, I tried linen and didn't like it, partly because I really didn't know how. But if I don't like it this time, you are so right about the important thing being enjoying what I am doing . I canthan enjoy the designs that others do and more than enjoy my own as well. When it becomes something I "have to do" that is not good.

Carole

I'm glad you are going to try out the linen again--but as you said, there is so much out there to stitch! I know when I first was told about stitching on linen/evenweave I was very intimidated, but thank goodness it soon became something I love doing. I wish you had a LNS other than the chains nearby, as they would most likely have someone there to help you out. At times like these, I wish I lived closer to some of our members, so that I could at least try and help out. Good luck Carole and most of all, happy stitching

There is a LNS in a suburb not really too far. I might give them a call and see what is available there and make a trip over there. I was there once a long time ago. again, mostly lazy on my part. And God knows what I will come home with. (Stash, stash, and more stash!)

Carole

rcperryls wrote:There is a LNS in a suburb not really too far. I might give them a call and see what is available there and make a trip over there. I was there once a long time ago. again, mostly lazy on my part. And God knows what I will come home with. (Stash, stash, and more stash!)

Carole

Hey that's a start at least and if you come home with stash all that much better!!

carole, i did the same as you w/ linen ... counting squares instead of threads. so i understand the frustration. i'm glad you got helpful info and w/ take a break and w/ start again later. ( i took a break too, for about 15 years!!!)

i think this forum is wonderful, i'm gald we all have each other...