I now know who I am stitching for in the Autumn Exchange at the Stitching Bloggers Exchange BB. More decisions to make, but it is so much fun to consider the possibilities. My Move It Out Monday item for this week is the Redwork Exchange project. Just when I think I have it figured out I change my mind. The only thing that hasn't changed is my choice of floss. A few weeks ago I found several skeins of 349 DMC Floche in the clearance bin at my LNS. I've never seen Floche before. It has such a soft, silky feel. I'm looking forward to stitching with it!
On Sunday I finished Sheepish Designs Baby Alphabet. The point of stitching this project was to try a new-to-me fiber, Oriental Linen from The Thread Gatherer. This silk/linen mix has the yummiest feel - sort of silky, sort of crunchy. You just want to bite it! I bought a skein of the color "Red Brick Road" and a scrap of pretty green linen at Stitches in St. Charles. (I have no idea what the fabric is.) I started the project on June 13th and didn't get far. I was using one ply but the thread count of the linen must have been too high because the fiber shredded into little bits. (Just a note - according to web site, Oriental Linen is two ply, one silk thread and one linen thread. It goes on to suggest using ONE ply for some projects and TWO ply for other projects. I took this to mean the ONE ply projects should be stitched with a single TWO ply "strand" of silk/linen. Are you confused yet??? My head almost exploded!!) It was clear that I was going to have to change the fabric or change the fiber for the project to continue.
As luck would have it, I had another fiber to experiment with - DMC's new linen floss. When I went to Mattoon earlier this summer Adana gave me several skeins. She didn't care for it and wanted to find a home for it. I used L778 to stitch the Baby Alphabet freebie. Here is a picture:
Here is my review of DMC's linen floss: ICK! It seems wrong to dislike it for being what it is - LINEN floss - but that is the root of my dislike. It has slubs (because it is linen) and the diameter of the thread changes (because it is linen) and it has a tendency to shred. Can you see the "thick" section in the left border? That is a spot where the floss diameter was particularly thick and I just left it instead of frogging it out. Bottom line, I don't care for DMC's linen floss. I'm with you, Adana! Thanks for letting me experiment for free.
Overall, I really like the project! I'm in love with the fabric - the scan comes close to showing the subtle color variations in it. It was great to stitch on. I wonder what it is? I think the floss color looks fine too, although in poor lighting the pink turns into Pepto!
Today is French SAL Tuesday. I need to get started on Part 12 of Terre de France!
2 comments:
Thanks for your DMC review. I have not used my skeins - yet.
I hope someone out there is able to find a good use for the linen floss. I know a lot of stitchers that have both collections.
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