• We entered the dog days not long ago, and I can really feel it. The heat isn’t oppressive, but it is humid, the air quality is sub-par, and I’m suffering from embroidery craving. All I want to do is work on that right front piece, the one that’s less done than all the other pieces because it languished for months in an impossibly wide frame. It’s been re-framed and is marginally easier to work, and I want to stitch a columbine. And a pansy. And a few butterflies. Maybe some honeysuckle buds or a pink split by a gusset. But not the worms. I bear them a grudge for not being what I thought they were. Bah.
• Gilt Sylke Twist is noisy. It’s thinner than the soie perlee, but because of the gold wire wrapping it’s almost ribbed. The first time I pulled it through the linen I gasped at the noise. The more experienced stitchers in the room chuckled, oh, yes, it IS noisy. After you work with it a while you forget, mesmerized by its beauty.
• Thanks for the note about the symposium, Cate. We’ll be holding all the events at Plimoth, and the capacity is about 200. Which seems like not a lot unless you’re actually planning it and still aren’t sure if anyone will come. Then it seems like quite a lot indeed. Those dates are 24-27 September, 2009.
• Lacey’s experience with the hot dog buns rang a bell for lots of transplanted New Englanders who miss the familiar buns of their youth. Isn’t it funny what you miss? Years and years ago I spent a year in England and missed Oreos. Like crazy. When I can have them any time I almost never do. And yes, I’m sure while there I saw The Jacket at the V&A, but alas I had no idea how important it would become in my life and so wasted the chance to really SEE it.
• Who doesn’t want to come to Plymouth in August? Carolyn W has a free weekend and will be coming to make lace 22 – 24 August (Fri – Sun) so we decided to make a party of it and invite everyone. Have a few days? Want to come to the sea? Actually, by that time it usually isn’t so hot and humid anymore. And, at least we won’t have to worry about having to cancel for snow, like last winter. email me jhall@plimoth.org
• The credit for the plaited braid stitch illustrations in Plimoth’s embroidered coif kit belongs to Oliver Kline and Joanna Kline Cadorette. I heard from Joanna that she drew the initial sketches and her father cleaned them up on the computer and made them all nice and easy to understand. Thank you, Mr. Kline.

Tricia’s Blog #3:

There are several sets of “Plaited Braid” directions out there. Excuse me if I don’t mention one you are aware of, but please let us know as it will help us solve this mystery!

The first is a set diagrammed by Mrs. Archibald Christie (Samplers & Stitches, 1920) that is often duplicated in other publications. I and others have found it difficult to understand and very difficult to work. To date, I haven’t been able to make it work without pins and an extra elbow.

The second is a set decoded by Elizabeth Creeden and diagrammed by *** (JILL PLEASE PUT HER NAME HERE mmm. not as easy as it sounds. I found the directions – but no one is credited for the illustrations. I think it was either Die Hoxie, Joanna Kline Cadorette, or Joanna’s father, Mr. Kline) and published by Plimoth as part of a coif pattern. I have used this set in many of my pieces. It has a lot of strength in that it works fast and easily. I mention this because a stitch used across a large piece would have to be relatively easy to work and not require any extra steps to make the stitch look uniform. But the stitch doesn’t look like the one on our jacket.

The third set was published by Leon Conrad in Fine Lines (Summer 2003). Another stitcher, Linda Connors, took Leon’s directions and expanded them using more pictures and additional graphics to make it even easier to read. This version results in a stitch which is indistinguishable from the gold embroidery on the jacket we are attempting to reproduce. These directions also “truck”, as I am apt to say in the workroom. They work fast once you get going. And as we have found during the project, that is an important distinction when trying to determine the stitch order. If it moves and flows naturally, it is most likely good. Time was money in that workroom.

This last set of directions will be the ones that we will use for the project. They are also the ones that were used to produce the stitch in the picture.

Tricia

Yes, as mentioned in the comments, Fine Lines is now defunct. jmh