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Sunday, May 22, 2011

Let me let you in on a little secret: I hate...

I have a secret to share - I hate colonial knots, french knots- all of those loop over your needle, hang on and pull things. It took me about sixteen tries to learn how to make one when I was bent over a faded vintage silk ribbon embroidery pamphlet. I say pamphlet as it was all of three pages with three poorly drawn pictures.

When I receive new books or patterns, I still check the stitch guide to see if I'm doing it wrong and if a knot is really some super cool secret thing.

I can still recall when I first decided that I hated knots. It was a first foray into silk ribbon embroidery. One pattern called for stitching straight stitches and leaving a circle in the center. One was supposed to take a separate fabric and fill in a circle full of french knots. Then one was supposed to cut out the circle, baste it into the center of the flower and TADA! Instant beauty.

Hahah. I tried that twice. The first time, I figured out that you shouldn't baste over silk ribbon stitches. It was a tight fit and I tried to capitalize on the enclosed space. Bad idea.

The second time, I had secured the piece down nice and tight- and then some of the knots started to unravel. Freaking knots, making me look bad.
Next.

Do you have a stitch that you hate? I still modify patterns with knots...

Satin stitch works great for flower centers for any one with the same freak out!

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