First Thimble of the Year

 

Here is my first thimble of the year.

Skill Level:  Intermediate

Required technique(s):  Forward stitch and back stitch

Number of stitching path(s):  Four then later two

Design period:  Four sections

Design repeat:  Four sections

Number of round(s):  Single

Number of colour(s) used: Five

My original design choice was Nine-patch Diamonds in red and white as these colours represent celebration in Japan however, I have too many of them in my stash and I wanted something different. It turned out all right but the black lining is just too strong a contrast for the pastel hues I chose for the design. I almost always choose black for lining because matching the lining colour to the threads colours is not very easy especially as I use readymade bias binding tape.  

When I had selected four threads from my stash I thought they would work but no, they did not. Putting the thread cards (silk hand sewing thread comes on a card, and not on a bobbin) side by side does not always guarantee that you made a right colour choice.  You have to stitch them to make sure these are what you want.  Unfortunately the light beige I chose does not work well with the light lavender.  They are too similar hue when stitched next to each other and that is why I had to stitch the additional round in white. But all in all it turned all right I suppose.

Study in Green

 

I have just finished a new thimble tonight.  

Skill Level:  Advanced

Required techniques:  Forward stitch, back stitch, and weaving

Number of stitching paths:  Two

Design period:  Four sections

Design repeat:  Two sections

Number of rounds of stitches:  Single

Number of colours used: Three

It’s weaving all over and quite challenging.  I like the design but I don’t think I chose the best colours for it.  

Speaking of the weaving stitches, I have been working on a new (to me) design.  It is called “Asanoha” in Japanese, meaning Linen Leaves.  I found the photo of the finished thimble on the web and was quite intrigued.  It seems that the design is on one of the temari books but my local libraries do not have it.  I might ask either of them to borrow it from the Diet Library which has all the books published in Japan, though I cannot check it out and take it to home.  I was able to finished the body design by myself but am still working on the best way to apply the accent stitches.  Here is a on the process photo of it.  It’ a modified hexagons and it requires a 36-section marking paper and it was not just practical to divide a strip of paper of 5.8mm into 36 sections so I simplified it to 12 sections and just had to make do with it.  

It was not very easy to figure out how to stitch the colour blocks but I am satisfied with this one.  It’s not too bad for the first trial, if I may say so myself.  However, I have no idea what to do with the accent stitches (white thread in the photo). 

The design period of the colour block part is 6 (out of 36 sections) while the widest part of the accent stitches is 18 and it also has to run vertically and horizontally, too.  I am not quite sure if I could figure it out anytime soon...

 

 

I have just finished a pin cushion and I would like to share a few photos with you.  In my previous post I said it had not fun at all to stitch all in a single colour.  This ring has two stitching paths and as you can see in two colours.  

The above photo is a ring with three rows of stitches.  Can you see the tiny triangles are forming?

It is clearer now with seven rows of stitches are done and pink and crimson triangles are there.

It’s almost there:  another two rows of stitches and it will be done.

I find stitching thimbles, or any other ring shaped rings, very therapeutic but all in a single colour is so monotonous that it discourage me to keep going.  I like the way the trinket tray in the previous post looks but I don’t think I want to make another one anytime soon.

Gold and Silver Trinket Tray

 

This is my newest creation; a trinket tray using the same technique of the thimble making.  This is a variation of the design of the thimble I posted before, but it appears quite differently because of the colors and the way I arranged them.

The design of the the previous thimble, “Blue Wave”, is actually the same as “Scales”, meaning fish, snakes, and dragons scales in Japanese, but changing the colours so that it appears as stripes.  This one has four stitching paths and I chose the darkest grey I have for all four so that it appears solid grey besides the last three rounds of stitches, for which I chose gold and silver threads with contrasting coloured silk threads.  

As you can see it appears like “Scales” or “Blue Wave” but in a single colour.

Here, all you can see is the diamonds in gold and silver.  The reason why it took me so long to finish this one is stitching four path in the same colour was no fun at all.  Using the different colours for each stitching paths gives you the satisfaction to see how much you progressed and/or anticipation how it will be once finished.  But not this one.  What I did was just filling the space with stitches.  When I finally thread the needle with the silver thread, then the gold, I cannot say how much fun I had, especially it changed the hue of grey when I added the silk threads along with the metal threads, then it changed once again with the last stitches in silver and gold.  It was amazing and I regretted that I did not take step by step photos to share with you.

I am considering reopening my shop at Etsy but am not sure because of the shipping options I can offer.  Japan Post does not give me much choice with so less air traffic due to Covid-19.  If you are interested in purchasing “Your First Silk Thimble Trial Kit” (and/or this trinket tray and previous thimbles for earrings, or any other thimbles/pin cushions posted before for that matter), please let me know by email.  You can find my email address in the profile section.  Please let me know which country you live so that I can check with the postal service to see what options we have.

Thimbles on Earrings

 

I have been working on the new project as I mentioned in the previous post however, it has not progressed as I hoped.  It’s a trinket tray and I should have finished it by now.  The reason why it has taken me so long is the design I chose for it.  I will tell you what it is and why in the next post when I finish it.   

It takes me two to four hours to finish one thimble and naturally I have ended up with so many in my stash.  In recent years I do not do embroidery and I really do not need thimbles in the practical way.  So here is my new way to use stock up thimbles; thimbles on earrings.

One of the above thimbles is the one I made in the past and I am not quite sure but I think I posted it here once.  I made another one to match but not identical on purpose.  I put them on the hoop earrings and here I am a proud owner of the new lovely  earrings.