#*^&#&# Railroading

OY THE PAIN!!! I really, truly hate to railroad. The only thing worse
is having to lay my threads :-(. I have started the Autumn Bleeped (the
first of a series of four I will do) from Country Crossroads and there
is a lot of satin stitching. I spent hours changing the floss from DMC
to silk -- mostly Rainbow Gallery with some of the Dinky Dyes. The DD
is variegated (this is the stuff I am going to need more of) and because
it's so pretty, I felt I should force myself to railroad so that the
threads lay nicely right next to each other. I have now decided that I
don't really need to do this -- LOL! It takes absolutely FOREVER and is
a total P.I.T.A. to do when working with silks! Fortunately, the satin
stitches are all 2 stitches wide and are in long rows or kloster blocks
so the fact the I am not going to railroad anymore isn't all that
noticeable.
It's not bad enough that trying to railroad the floss is a P.I.T.A.
but I'm using the banding fabric called for on the charts -- with many
thanks to my stitchin' buddy Janet because she bought me FOUR yards of
the stuff last Christmas. It's very pretty, white 16 ct. aida but --
there's *always* a but isn't there -- those rows of 2 stitch wide satin
stitches (and satin stitched hearts as well) are done in the holes where
they belong and also in between the holes!!! The chart calls for you to
pierce the blocks of threads and put stitches in between the holes! I
never took a close look at the chart -- just made a note of the fabric
that was recommended! I would have much preferred to do this on even
weave banding and NOT had to mess with trying to pierce the aida thread
blocks and try to get my stitch placed smack in the middle. Of course,
that's near impossible because this aida banding is made with three
*&$#$%#^%)% threads per row.
VBS -- ahhhh the trials and tribulations -- LOL! It's a good thing
the banding is so pretty. Anyway -- I have decided that there is no way
I will continue to try to get those satin stitches railroaded while I am
trying to pierce the threads in each row! HMMM -- I'll have to see if I
can find the charts so that you can get a look. OK -- here's the Autumn
bell pull
http://www.calicocrossroads.com/he/c...cfm?Category=3
It's very pretty but the colors are a bit to soft for my decor. Instead
of doing the letters in an ecru, I am using Dinky Dyes #33 Desert Sands.
I've changed the letters of all the seasons to one of the variegated
Dinky Dyes fibers; the Winter design (done in BLUE -- YUCK) has been
changed to a red flower and the letters are going to be done in
Waterlilies "Holiday" which is a variegated red/green combo. CiaoMeow
^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
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