Threadfest Part 3 - Overdyes and Metallics

Greetings on a dull, drab morning in northern England! I can't see much of the nice view from our windows today, so it's a good time to create some on-line eye candy with the next part of the threadfest series! Today I've got three photos to showcase.

This first one is what remains of my collection of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads (GAST), Weeks Dye Works (WDW) and Six Strand Sweets (SSS) after I sold a huge number of skeins prior to going to Taiwan. I just kept what I needed for certain projects and colours that I felt I could really use in the sorts of work I wanted to do - and one or two that I just like too much to let go of!! (Well, one or two for fun is fine. Boxes and boxes of un-used and probably never will use stuff is NOT!)

I really enjoy looking through this sort of thread, but I do feel that, outside of counted thread work they have limited usage. I know there are some stumpworkers, like Kay Dennis for instance, who use a lot of space-dyed threads in their work, but I feel that the effect is too random for my liking and I prefer to have more control over it as I want to produce the most realistic effect possible. Of course, sometimes, an over-dyed shade is spot on. I once used a dark green mix for some rose leaves and it came out very well indeed.

Next is another section of my workbox and this time it's the cantilever part on the other side of the box to where I keep the rayons and silks I showed you last week. Here you can see the Caron Collection threads I own (although not terribly well, I confess) and a few dozen Kreiniks. I know, I should have taken them out and showed them off to their fullest advantage, but it would have been a bit more than I feel up to this morning, so maybe another time.....

As you can see from the different label colours on the Kreiniks, there are a lot more than just blending filaments (the turquoise labelled reels on the right) here! I have quite a few very fine and fine braids, but also a fair number of cords, which are the pale pink ones on the top left. Many of the braids are also the 'cord' version as it's a smoother finish and I really like that. Most of the colours are varying shades of silver and especially gold, but also other things like browns, blacks, greens, blues and so on. Yes, one day soon I will take them out and show you the lot.

This last photo for today is really my odds and ends box with the non-Kreinik metallics collection. In the box you can see a few duplicate threads such as duplicate Anchor, (which have the only seven skeins of DMC that I own on top of them here), several skeins of #5 pearl cotton in bright white, black coton a broder and some gold very fine braid by Kreinik. There are so many of these three last mentioned threads as the black and gold were bought with a particular large blackwork project in mind and the pearls came with a New Stitches hardanger kit. Also in this box are a few Pearl Sweets skeins and part-skeins, ten of the DMC linen threads (I mean to complete that collection when practicable), some of the DMC Colour Variations threads and quite a lot of the Anchor Multi-colour skeins.

Onto the other bags etc. Here you can see a small collection of goldwork threads - mostly a thread sample selection from Dinsdales Embroideries, I think. There are also quite a number of the DMC Light Effects skeins and some skeins of Anchor metallics as well. There's a Kreinik scrap bag in the middle there, which although it contains a lot of uninspiring plain stuff, has provided the odd end of something special I needed. There are also about 6 packs of over-dyed Needle Necessities threads and a couple of packs of hand-dyed ribbon seem to have sneaked in as well, along with one complete and one 'left-overs' Victoria Sampler Accessory Pack.

Hope this has given you some nice eye candy for the weekend.=)

My cross stitch is coming on OK - no more mix ups thus far, but I realise that I really must get on with the other things as well or else they'll never get finished and I don't want another 'dog' scenario where the embroidery in question got neglected for so long that the finished item was over 3 years late!