Colinette Cushions: March 2004 Archives

Mahjong Shows Off It's Real Stuff*

I'm back. Some of the "big things" got taken care of. At least enough for me to justify rewarding myself with a little crafty happiness. Mahjong is now finished. And I actually got a daylight shot of the project (albeit under cloudy skies from which snow had been recently emanating) so the true colors of the cushion/wall hanging can now be seen.

I liked this project. I know, I know, I like most of my projects, but the color in this one makes me particularly happy. It has such a springy feeling about it, and I feel, as if by completing this project, I am doing a little bit of a dance to encourage spring to really Spring.

For anyone else who decided to do one of these, I do think that Emma has exactly the right idea by starting hers in the center and working out. I've done enough counted cross-stitch to know that inside outwards is a good rule to follow (needlepoint seems to me very much like cross stitch only on a bigger canvas), but I just ignored it here. In the end it worked out fine, but I did have to rip out a good portion of the center section and re-do after I miscalculated something. After ripping I worked things out from the center, and the results are what you see below.

Hitting the Bullseye with Mahjong**

This picture is much more representative of how much the canvas shows through than the previous closeup.

Now I so need another one of these kits. (Actually, I need another project like I need a hole in the head...but that doesn't keep me from wanting another one of these lovely projects). Chequers in Travertine anyone?

*for once, an unretouched photo from the Keyboard Biologist
** can you believe it? a second unretouched photo!

On the Border with Mahjong

This project really deserves a natural light shot. But I wasn't expecting to have it show up so soon again in my rotation. Over the weekend I beceame pretty obsessed with it. If I wasn't working on the jacket, I was working on this canvas. This kit really goes pretty fast when you focus on it. Now only the center portion remains. Another evening's worth of hours, I think, and it will be ready for a frame. I promise to get a better picture of it then!

This is my third project in Giotto and I am still fascinated by the colors in the ribbon. I'm even more fascinated by how they work together to convince the eye of something they couldn't do if the color was there by itself. Seen as a whole, this project has a very Monet color palette (think Waterlillies), but when you look at the individual components you see greys and pinks (mist), a very spring green (moss), and a yarn with greens and blues and golds and pinks (gauguin) you hardly get the same impression at all. Here's a closeup that tries to prove my point a little bit...

The Corner of Mahjong Up Close

The flash on the camera makes the canvas reflect more and show up a lot more prominently behind the ribbon than it does when you're just looking at it without a camera.

What else did I do tonight... well... I made the mistake of checking out Elann for their new arrivals. I should really know better than to do this....but there hasn't been much interesting to me in the newsletters lately, so I wasn't expecting to find much. Instead... I ran across Muench Bergamo paired with Veronik Avery's lovely Salt Peanuts from the Spring 2004 IK. Totally not fair -- especially at 60% off. It's probably not too hard to guess what's on it's way to me... in Hyacinth... I really must stop buying yarn... maybe I need to create one of Carolyn's yarn mileage spreadsheets to remind me of how big my stash is growing...

Must... Knit... Faster....!

The Mahjong Cushion/Wall Hanging Continues

It's funny to me how taking a picture of something can change my perspective on something I have sitting right in front of me. As I folded Mahjong up for the evening I thought, "wow, I still have a ways to go". When I pulled it back out to take a picture and pulled that picture up in PhotoShop, I thought "gosh, I'm almost done with the border."

I'm having fun with this project, although I suspect that I am not using correct needlepoint technique (I did google a bit for some, but only came up with the About.com links... anyone have any favorite needlepointing sites?). When I was doing cross-stitch, there was always this sense that truly good work was as neat on the back as on the front. By that standard, this poor piece is being poorly served. But I figure no one looks at the back of a wall hanging or a pillow.

I'm hoping that Emma will start hers soon so that I can see the second colorway come to life. I love the deep reds and blues in the Giotto in her kit. I still haven't decided which one I will do next. I'm leaning towards Chequers in the Travertine colorway. If you'd like to peek at them, you can find them here.

Meanwhile, I also plugged away a little bit at right front of dad's Lo Tech. It's almost there, but not quite there enough for pictures.