Friday, June 15, 2012

WIP | Oh, Sharla

Last summer I started stitching my first HAED Sharla. I have a thing for mermaids and Hannah Lynn, so it was easy to choose my first HAED project:


I quickly realized it would take an entire lifetime to complete her stitching 1 over 1. This is as far as I managed to get with Sharla:



Not very impressive. I pondered for months whether I should switch to 2 over 1 tent stitch. I did some test stitching, and I really liked how the 2 over 1 tent stitches came out. I finally made the decision to frog what I had done and start over.


I gotta tell you - frogging that much 1 over 1 was a nightmare. To top it off, on my very last little 10x10 square I cut a thread on the fabric. I don't even know how I did it. There were some other close calls I could have understood if I broke the thread, but nothing bad should have occurred when it did.

My husband suggested I move Sharla down the fabric since the cut thread was on the top row of the pattern.  I got out the measuring tape to find out not only did I have enough room to move Sharla past the cut thread, I probably had enough room to just move Sharla past the entire section I just frogged. I didn't need to frog any of it. I could have cut off the stitched portion or just flipped the fabric upside down.

In the end I wound up flipping the fabric upside down anyway. My cut thread is now at the bottom below where I will reach. That was a big lesson to me. Never, ever frog an entire piece without first measuring to see if I can just recut my fabric!

The good news is this is my best season for stitching: grand slam tennis time. The last two weeks the French Open has been on. Since men's matches are usually about 3-5 hours each, I can get in a lot of stitching time glued to the couch. This year's final match had 3 rain delays! Talk about getting in some stitching time. :)

This is my new progress picture of Sharla:



I'm loving the tent stitch so I'm happy I decided to start over.

5 comments:

  1. Great new start. I have started my first HAED this year so feel your pain. I am stitching on 18ct magic guide aida 2 x 1. I too love stitching and tennis.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm one of those crazy people who actually like doing HAEDs in full crosses 1 over 1. :) Good luck with your re-start, I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Doing those start overs can really give you anxiety...I'm SO HAPPY it worked out for the best for you! Glad you're liking the tenting much better!

    ReplyDelete
  4. She's looking great, and isn't the tent stitch easy to use. I love it for mine too. My HAEDs are all in tent stitch, most on twenty eight count. I'm using two over one too. I hope this makes you want to stitch on her more, Delphyne. Keep up the good work!!!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin