New Start

 The DBEM bought me two needlework books as an early birthday gift and this week I decided to try my hand at “self teaching”.   Frisian Whitework is done on very fine count linen apparently so I thought I’d start there and reduce my stash of that while my sight is still so so.   

This piece of 34 count linen came all the way from the States when the Criss Cross Row  was still a viable entity.   Colour is Wren’s Wing ( a close match to DMC 642) and fortuitously I had the matching Perle thread in stash.   All was going well until I realised that Frisian Whitework is counted in threes and after years of stitching hard anger my brain is wired to counting in fours:).  After a little reversing I began to make progress and am more than happy with progress so far.   Hopefully all will go well and a neat little needle book will result.

Yesterday I took the chess board to my friendly picture framer who is now removed from my “best friends list” as she wanted to glue it to a foam core!!!   She told me she framed a lot of needlework and indeed she did The Birds one for me last year but as this was not a picture to go on the wall she was adamant it could not be laced and she needed to use adhesive.  No way says I and retreated to take my precious chess board to the other, slightly more expensive framer in town.   He was ready for the challenge agreeing to perspex not glass, suggesting a flat backing board to which he would affix suede and without prompting informing me he would take care as this could well become an heirloom piece.   Ah, I do like a tall handsome Dutchman!!   In four weeks time my precious piece should be back home with me.

Now the remaining conundrum for next week is what to do with the other half of the Wren’s Wing linen.