Take a Stitch Tuesday Week 43
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 5:43AM | Sharon B | 10 Comments | in Challenges, Hand Embroidery, Needlework, Take a Stitch Tuesday 
There will be two TAST challenge announcements this week. Todays stitch and I will post week 44 tomorrow as I am going away for a couple of weeks to New Zealand. While I am away I will be checking comments etc from internet cafes but the moderation process is bound to take a little longer.
Well on to this weeks challenge stitch which is Drizzle stitch. You will find directions in my stitch dictionary.
Drizzle stitch is a down right peculiar stitch with loads of personality and individuality. It is quirky and amusing as it stands free from the foundation fabric. When you first read the instructions, if you are kind, you will think there is an editing error. If you are not, you will think I am mad. Let me assure there is no error. In order to create this stitch you have to unthread and rethread the needle a number of times during the process of working. This feels counter intuitive particularly if you hate threading needles!
This threading and unthreading does make it time consuming but Drizzle stitch it is worth the effort simply because it is so different and adds high texture to embroidery. I have yet to show it to anyone without their reaction being one of first smiling then wanting to touch. It has a wonderfully organic feel to it which makes it ideal for the centre of flowers or situated in underwater scenes.
It is a very distinctive and individualistic as a stitch but it is also a good team member as well. Drizzle stitches look good in clusters.So work lots of them! It doesn’t mind hanging around with other stitches either. Its a very social stitch (even if sometimes the eccentric in the group). Drizzle stitch works well in the company of knotted stitches such as French knots or bullion knots. It also looks great if you combine with woven or whipped wheels. Beadwork techniques are easily included tucked in between clusters of this stitch. Or you can manipulate the foundation fabric to start off with a textured and painted surface on which to stitch.
Drizzle stitch is a member of the cast on family so if you enjoyed cast-on stitch in week 31 you will enjoy this too. Since it is a textured stitch a thread with a firm twist in it such as pearl cotton is ideal to use to test it out. Once mastered experiment with other threads particularly those that have been space dyed by hand.
That’s it for this week. Remember to swing by and leave a comment preferably on this page, so that people can follow the link and see what you have done. There is a Take a stitch Tuesday flickr group which you can browse
Reader Comments (10)
We did it again! Hi, Sharon - even though I'm not technically keeping up with the stitching part of the challenge, I am keeping up with the results! I love jumping around and seeing what everyone does with the stitches, and I only wish I had time to join in.
Strangely enough, for those who might struggle with a verbal or pictoral representation of drizzle stitch, I posted last week a video tutorial for the stitch. If it will help stitchers with the challenge, they can view the video here:
http://www.needlenthread.com/2007/10/drizzle-stitch-video-tutorial.html
Unfortunately, the resolution of the video is not so good (Google automatically compresses it!), but it's clear enough to follow the workings of the stitch. Incidentally, I'm just now adding hair to a clown and to a little old lady (embroidered, obviously!) using drizzle stitch. It works great for "curly hair."
I'm really so impressed with the longevity and perseverence of this challenge - thanks to you, of course! - and to all the stitchers out there keeping up with it. Congratulations on that!
MC
hmmm ... now where did I put my "self threading" needles? LOL
(yes - they DO exist - I have some - they have a gap at the top so you can kind of "pop" the thread into the eye - I use them for hiding the short dangly threads that end up hanging out on the backs of my quilts/etc ... if I bother hiding them at all, that is - often I just leave them dangling there ... I know - that is rather messy - but so what? - it IS the BACK ;)
btw - the twisted satin stitch was fun - mine ended up looking like little doggy bones! (my last few weeks stitches are not blogged yet, but hopefully they will be in the next day or 5)
I have not been visiting your site for a while. This early morning in dreary England I did. I am Italian living in England and quite sad because I am looking for work and yesterday I have been rejected...again...so I am bit sad, but I wanted to thank you because reading about the 'personality' of the drizzle stitch just made the start of this new day a little less hard and brought a little joy...
thank you and keep up the good job...
Claudia M
I was introduced to drizzle stitch at an embroiderers' Guild meeting shortly before cast-on stitch featured in TAST and think it is great fun. There are a few stitches on my sampler already in among the caston stitches!
What I want to ask is - does anyone know where one can buy really large milliners/straw needles? I really want to do this stitch in thick yarn but can't get a big enough hole to manage the extra threading. I have chenille needles, but you have to leave the stitch slack with those and it is not easy.
Have a good trip, Sharon. Will be glad to have you back, though!With pictures, I hope.
Hi Sharon
Drizzle stitch is done and posted on my blog.
Doreen
http://doreeng.blogspot.com/
Hey, Barbara - if you're located in the US, you can order all kinds of sizes of milliner needles from colonial needle, and the shipping's not too bad!
http://www.colonialneedle.com/
Hope that helps!
MC
Hi Sharon,
I hope you're enjoying the time away.
I've posted samples of drizzle stitches to my blog at http://quietermoments.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow">quietermoments.wordpress.com
Thanks as always for the challenge and all that you do to encourage handwork.
Elizabeth
My drizzle stitch photos have been added to my blog.
http://everydayrevelations.blogspot.com/
Hi Sharon, I'm up to date and the Drizzle Stitch is on my blog. This one was fun to do.
http://normasneedlez.blogspot.com