Smøyg

 My Smøyg is finished and framed and hanging on the wall.  

The framer suggested that we put a hint of red in the framing, and I'm really happy that we did.

It's hard to get a good photo because it's more than a metre (or yard) long. But here's some close ups from before it was framed.

 

Smøyg is stitched up and down the fabric rather than across the fabric like most other forms of embroidery.  There's a lot of counting involved, and being off by one hole upsets the whole design.  

I bought the Smøyg book and kit for this table runner from Yvette Stanton of Vetty Creations at the Sydney Quilt Show in 2018.  I didn't start stitching until March 2019, and then I worked on it on and off until I finished it in October 2021.  I actually had it hanging on the wall before Christmas 2021, but it's taken me a while to blog about it.  

I enjoyed using all of the different types of threads and seeing the patterns emerge.  It was also interesting to read about the history of this type of embroidery.  Yvette always does a lot of research for her books, and she included instructions for left and right handed stitchers in this book. 

I have another little Smøyg kit from the book in my stash, and I might get on to that one day soon. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

 

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Smoyg

I've made a lot of progress on my Smoyg embroidery this year, and the end is now in sight.  

The top half:

The bottom half:

There's just two and a half blocks to finish now.  The big black ones (which get a bit boring), and the diamond one just below half way - which shouldn't take long at all.  

I love the multicoloured blocks, but the black and white blocks look very effective too.  I love it all - especially when viewed from a distance.  

I've really enjoyed working on this sampler, and I'll be sad when it's finished.  But I have Yvette Stanton's book and I could make something else with all the left over threads.  

So that's what I've been up to this week.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Embroidery update

It's January, so that means long summer nights in New Zealand, and plenty of stitching.   

I'd normally be watching the Australian Open on TV right now, but the start date has been deferred to 8 February this year.   Instead I'm watching the fallout from some players having to endure 14 days in their hotel rooms (because someone on their flight tested positive for COVID once they reached Australia).  It's really going to impact on the tournament because some players can train for 5 hours a day, while others can't.  

Anyway, I've been working on three embroidery projects since Christmas.  

1. Pandemic Sampler by Long Dog Samplers.

I've finally finished page 11, so now I've done 7 out of 20 pages.  Consensus seems to be that pages 6 and 11 are the worst, and I've done both of them now, so it should be plain sailing from here.  ("Worst" as in densest stitching and most risk of error.)

2. Smoyg by Yvette Stanton

I promised to work on my Smoyg this year, and I have been. I completed the navy band in the photo below in just two nights.  Why didn't I do it earlier?

And then last night I started the large green block and I'm enjoying it. There are more colours to add to this block yet.  

So, it's looking good, but I do need to go back and complete some blocks yet. 

3. Shades of Indigo - by Northern Expressions Needlework

This wasn't on my to do list for 2021, but I've had the pattern since 2016, so surely it's OK to start one new thing.  In fact I started this piece on New Year's Day because it's a tradition among cross stitchers to start something new on 1 January.  It's a pity there's no tradition about finishing things!

This photo doesn't do it justice, but I'm using hand dyed fabric and Caron Waterlilies. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week?  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Smoyg (and the Peacock Party)

I've been busy preparing a couple of bumper recap blog posts about all the different things I've worked on this year.  I stumbled across some photos of my smoyg embroidery and thought I should give you an update.

I started this piece back in March 2019 - you can read all the background in that first post here.

I made a fair amount of progress and I took it show the designer, Yvette Stanton, at the QuiltNSW Sydney Quilt Show in June 2019.

Unfortunately I haven't done any more on it since then and I now know why.  I studied Yvette's beautiful example on her stand at the quilt show, and saw that her version of the block I was currently stitching is quite different to mine.  Yvette had used the laying tool and separated each of the strands in the silk thread to get a very different result.

There was no way I was going to unpick all I'd done on that block, so I told myself I was fine with my version.  But perhaps I wasn't! That's probably why I stopped working on it.

Anyway, time has passed, and I've accepted that Yvette is the designer, author and teacher, so her work has to be perfect.  I'm just a mere student and if I'm happy with my version, it will be fine.

When people dump music books on it on top of the piano, will they care if I separated the silk strands on one particular block? Probably not.

So, I'm going to be a rebel and start a new block tonight.  Using new colours is always exciting, and getting back to the wool threads will avoid thinking about the silk threads. I do love this Norwegian pattern darning type of stitching, but you do have to be 100% accurate because errors show up really easily.

I know that people in other parts of Europe have different names for this technique, but I'm calling it Smoyg because I trust Yvette's research and I'm working from her book.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party. What have you been up to this week? Are you on an end of year finishing binge like I am? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.

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Smoyg - and the Peacock Party

Last week I started something new.  It's the Smoyg table runner that I've had tucked away since June last year.

I bought this book and the kit from Yvette Stanton of Vetty Creations at the Sydney Quilt Show last year.  Yvette writes beautiful embroidery books.  She researches the origins of different styles of embroidery, and then writes it all up in a book, illustrates it with beautiful photos, and writes patterns for everyone to try.

This book is all about pattern darning from Norway.  The stitches themselves are very simple running stitches, but the Norwegian people developed very interesting patterns which are featured in the book.

I've chosen to make the band sampler because it includes a wide range of patterns and colours.  I didn't want to spend months stitching a piece in just one colour! The thread is Laine fine d'Aubusson by Au Ver a Soie - fine tapestry wool for those who don't speak French.

The special thing about pattern darning is that the stitches are made vertically.  Normally we work horizontally across the fabric, but in this case it's all done vertically.  Counting is super important, because a small mistake will stand out from the clean diagonal lines.  Sorry this photo isn't great - it's a very cloudy day today. I'll post more photos as this piece grows.

So, that's what I've been up to.  What's everyone else been up? Feel free to link up and share a recent blog post below.  I didn't get to visit any of your posts last week sorry - I promise to visit the ALL the posts this week though.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter