YOTA stands for 'Year of the Acronym' and is a SAL (Stitch ALong) to work on a UFO (Unfinished Object). It is hosted HERE.
My YOTA project is 'Flower of the East'. This is a project that was given to me by a lady I never met before and who hasn't answered my emails since. She posted it on a giveaway page on Facebook and no one else asked for it. It was the partially stitched fabric and the chart only, no floss or metallics.
I bought the floss but haven't bought the Japan Braid that it requires yet. It looked like this:
I have found some unexpected issues with finishing a project started by someone else - the first thing I checked was did we cross our stitches in the same direction, and luckily yes, we did. That was good.
When I put her in my Q-snaps to get started, I discovered that my two strands of floss were coming out much thinner-looking than her two strands of floss. I kept checking to make sure she hadn't used three strands but no, two strands it was.
I changed to a bigger needle than the first one and it helped a very, very little. I didn't know what to do, then noticed her stitching was a lot looser than mine and had a bit of an epiphany. It looked like my stitches used to when I stitched in hand instead of using a frame. So I tried that and bingo, I was in business! Our stitches matched!
As I started stitching along, I decided that the reason she didn't want to finish her must have been the fabric. It's terrible, loosely woven and floppy and uneven. Pull the stitches the least bit too tight and it leaves gaping holes. I wasn't about to give in though - I adjusted my tension and settled in to a rhythm and it finally started flowing easier.
So now my Flower looks like this:
I have finished her hair and the flesh tones of her face. She needs her eyes, mouth, and the flowers in her hair next. She's very pretty, though, isn't she? Even with her slightly scary current face! Next time I hope you will see her with her hair and face finished and her parasol and fan done, as well.
She looks great Tama. I can't tell that somebody else had started stitching it.
ReplyDeleteLinda
She looks beautiful. Great job :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure she will be worth the effort. Have fun:)
ReplyDeleteShe's beautiful. Well done for sticking with her and figuring out how to finish her. That's interesting what you saI'd about tension. I have always stitched in hand (25+ years) but have started to prefer a frame.
ReplyDeleteShe's beautiful. Well done for sticking with her and figuring out how to finish her. That's interesting what you saI'd about tension. I have always stitched in hand (25+ years) but have started to prefer a frame.
ReplyDeleteIt's looking great!! I don't know if I could "adopt" someone else's work to finish. It's a beautiful design though!!
ReplyDeleteIt's very pretty. Is that some kind of even weave fabric? I refuse to work on that stuff. I was always taught to use a hoop, although I find needlepoint fabric is stiff enough not to.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a pretty pattern. I'm so glad you decided to try and finish it. Wwell done for sticking out all those issues and for finding the solution.
ReplyDeleteI find I stitch looser in hand too unless it's a teeny tiny pattern. Then the hand cramps! I think I would go nuts without a stand or at least a hoop for something this size. She looks beautiful and quite possibly has been enjoying a spa day with her face like that haha. :D
ReplyDeleteShe does look a little ghosty! She's beautiful though. Good luck with her for next YOTA.
ReplyDeletexo Alicia