I couldn’t resist doing February’s SAL early in the month, instead of paying attention to my rotation. I thought it would only take an afternoon like January’s did, but I spent three days on it altogether. I loved doing the pretty purple stitch which is called Beaded edging. I think it came out quite nicely. This month uses beads too and I’m using beads that I already had in my stash. Until I got them out, I wasn’t sure how well they’d go but they’ve turned out to be a perfect match, being just a shade darker than the threads.
The next step was the cutting so I did the only sensible thing and put it away for the night. When it came back out instead of taking the scissors to the piece that I’d already spent hours on, I did a practise piece, as recommended on the SAL blog, using a contrasting thread to make it easier to see. Then I took the scissors to that.
I’ve just noticed that I’ve managed to take a photo of the back of it by mistake, but we’ll pretend it was deliberate shall we?
Having managed to cut the practise piece without cutting anything that I shouldn’t have, I decided to attempt the main piece.
It. Was. Terrifying.
I didn’t cut any fabric threads that I shouldn’t have but I did nick a couple of the Perle threads. Not enough to be a problem but I obviously need to be a bit more careful. I found it awkward to hold the scissors at that angle, especially as mine are bent forward so I have to tilt them right back to poke them down the holes.
Stroking the cut ends in wasn’t as tricky as I thought it might be and it looks fairly neat, although some of the Perles do look slightly ummm, scuffed. It’s not bad for a first effort though.
Once the cutting and end tucking-in was complete, that just left the Woven Bars and the Dove’s Eyes, neither of which I’ve done before. The Woven Bars started off very uneven but I can see how they gradually improved until they look quite reasonable by the end. The Dove’s Eyes on the other hand are dreadful. I kept redoing them but couldn’t get them to sit right. I may have to live with them for now.
On the whole, I’m pleased with how it went, and I do love the design. I was very nervous about the cutting and I think that some better scissors may help so I’ve sent for some.
I’ve lost a whole week of rotation stitching to a long and vile migraine, plus working on this so instead of trying to squeeze week one in I’m going straight to week two now and the Owls. If the Papillon SAL is small enough I’ll try to fit some time in on Around the World, but if not, I’ll make sure it gets some attention next month.
A slight obsession with books 