Incidentally, the mini Snow full pattern says the dimensions are 325x229. So something is definitely awry. All I know is my complete bar says I'm at 50% complete, but there is no way that I still have 50% of the pattern to complete. I only have 3 partial pages to complete. It should say closer to 75% complete. Oh well, I'll just keep tallying up my stitches until I have 100% complete. Then it won't matter.
I managed to get some good stitching in, even though I've been working a lot. I'm back on Adrift, but I don't think my needle will be smoking on this next page. Don't get me wrong, time permitting, it will be.
I'm getting so eager to just finish these two projects. They are both so tantalizingly close to completely. After Christmas I will frame. I will have 2 HaED's to frame, my owl and Adrift, but I can only do one at a time. I'm thinking Adrift first.
I was at my stitch-n-bitch yesterday and I caught a snippit of a phone conversation from a lady who had sent her work in for framing and the framer had used some sort of "protection" on the piece. Only she had used Waterlillies floss, which, if you've ever used it, you have to a. wash first to color block it or b. to keep the color vibrant, don't wash it, and then stitch your piece carefully so you don't need to wash it when it's done. Well, I guess she had chosen option b, but suffice to say, her colors had all bled, absolutely ruining the finished product. She had phoned in tears asking if there was anything she could do. I didn't hear the advice given, because a gaggle of giggling ladies were calling to me, but I couldn't imagine having something happen like this. Because there is so much red DMC in the Owl, I hadn't planned on washing him - why chance it? But now, I just may have to specify to not treat him at all when framing. I've never heard of such things, but then again, I've had very few of my pieces finished. I just...I don't think I could emotionally recover if one of my pieces, especially a HaED that I've worked on for years, were to get ruined by someone else. Or even myself. It's definitely left me wary!
I'm just curious if anyone who follows this blog has had a similar experience? If so, what did you do?
Was there anything TO do?
Congrats on the page finish. She is beautiful. Oh no I've never had that happen. My heart breaks for the person. I can't imagine it either. I've heard horror stories of using places like Hobby Lobby or Michaels to do the framing. Luckily I have a LNS nearby that does fantastic framing.
ReplyDeleteI once took a piece to Michaels and the guy at the framing table told me there would be an extra $50 fee to frame it "straight".
DeleteHe wouldn't elaborate on what exactly that meant. Needless to say, I did not leave my work there.
I have a great framer here. He works out of his house, and does fantastic work!
The stocking is coming together so well. I love the greys and whites. It definitely looks like you are at least 75% done though. I hope the woman was able to soak the piece and get the bled colours out. What a frightening experience, when a piece is complete I feel I have to worry less about some freak accident but I suppose until it is framed something crazy could still happen.
ReplyDeleteIf it was my mistake that my piece got ruined, I would kick myself. If it was at the hands of someone else, I would kick them and then pay the fine! I couldn't even imagine.
DeleteThe thought of that happening to a huge finished piece is horrifying. Was the framer a chain store? I've heard that getting your framing done at such places is a bit of a crapshoot and you're better off finding a place with good experience in framing needlework. I haven't actually had anything framed so I don't know. Please let us know if you find out what happened with the poor lady's piece!
ReplyDeleteHmmm... if the pattern says 236 x 331 and it's counting the entire stocking as if it fit in that size rectangle then I would think that would put you farther along percentage-wise, not less. Yeah, that's a mystery. I really can't fathom why you'd be at just 50% with only three partial pages left. But you do have the reassurance of looking at it (and how beautiful it is!) and knowing you're farther along than that, math be damned. :)
Alas, I don't know any more other than what I shared. I probably won't see them all until after Christmas now, but I will try to find out if she was able to get the stains out.
DeletePoor lady!
How awful for that poor stitcher! I have used two framers as my original framer stopped framing pieces. Both have done a fabulous job of framing. I can't imagine how it would feel to have your beautiful work spoiled.
ReplyDeleteI would say your stocking is at least 75% done and looks amazing!
Good framers are indeed worth their weight in gold!!!
DeleteUnfortunately once the bleeding happens and then it sets, it is extremely hard to get it out again. I wash all of my own pieces, and if bleeding happens I simply keep rinsing until the water becomes clear. I would be furious if the framing shop ruined my piece that way. So many hours of work wasted. There is a potential to pull stitches and redo some sections, but that is a lot of work as well.
ReplyDeleteAs for you percentage of completion, I assume that whatever you're using to count the stitches is counting all the blank/unstitched area as areas you should be stitching, so it is adding quite a few additional stitches when it shouldn't be. Lovely work though. Looking forward to seeing it finished. :)
That's kind of what I was thinking too, in regard to bleeding. There isn't really much you can do, especially once the piece is dried. I would be utterly gutted if this happened to me!!
DeleteWow I couldn't imagine that happening! I haven't stitched with specialty threads but I would definitely wash them beforehand because I never know if my piece will accidentally get dirty. I would have soaked it in cold water to see if the colors bled out of the fabric.
ReplyDeleteAs for the stocking, it's gorgeous! I think that the stitch counts are correct but you aren't taking into consideration that the counts are for a rectangle. It counts the outside dimensions of the piece as if the blank spots are stitched so you know how big of a piece of fabric to buy. Since the white space looks to be about 25% of the pattern that would make sense :)
I know, right? I tend to NOT pre-wash my threads, because I want them vibrant. But I know that I then run the risk of them running. Even then, it would be my fault and not the fault of someone else.
DeleteThanks for the lovely words about Snow. Yeah, I think you're right, the stitch count is for the entire page, which doesn't really make sense. Oh well, I'll change up my bar to show something a little closer to the truth, even if it won't be entirely accurate.
Really a beautiful blog.It is very astonishing and marvelous design.
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