Progress…
Despite not finishing, there was still progress! And the elephant now has a body! And on looking at the remainder of the original lines I drew in, there really isn’t much left to be done.
As I mentioned, I decided to couch around his body, and I’m really happy with this decision. I used a Perle 5 thread, and couched down two strands. And now he really looks like an elephant!
I think a few stem stitch rows, possibly a coral stitch, and probably a padded satin stitch eye are all that are needed. Finding all the uncovered lines is a little difficult, as some of them are almost completely covered by the current stitches. So a few different types of thread will need to be used to balance and finish these last few bits.
My grab and go project
And just a little insight on how I’m fitting the stitching of this project in around the other projects I’ve got on. It has become what I’m calling my ‘grab and go’ project. Now we have sun (and an oversupply of the sun, and a massive undersupply of rain!), we are spending more time outside in the park for a few hours each weekend. It’s a nice stroll down with the dog, and we get to watch the world go by, walk around, drink coffee. All quite civilised really! And instead of bringing a book, I’ve got my ‘bag’ (that I made in my first year of high school!), all ready to just pick up with everything I need to stitch in the park. It’s a really lovely way to get a little something done on the project, and get some fresh air and sun too.
A new community centre, focusing on ‘crafts’ has also just opened up across the road. Once a month they have a ‘Yarn and Stitch’ session for a few hours, so elephant joined me there too! Most of the others were knitters or weavers, so we had a good chat about embroidery and me telling them about a few of the different stitches and threads. Unfortunately they only have the space for six months, but hopefully council agrees to let them stay longer, as it’s a great initiative covering all sorts of crafts for all age groups.
Hi Catherine! I love the progress on your elephant :). And the community centre sounds lovely too. I really hope that it will establish itself and stay open. These spaces are so important!
Thanks Jessica! I’m much happier with the elephant now there is a body! I do hope the centre stays open too. I feel they will have just started to get traction and then the council will step in and want to ‘change’ it – fingers crossed that doesn’t happen!
Great progress on the elephant! How creative!
Thanks Pamela! It is a different type of piece for my to try different stitches and threads 🙂
Nice to see the elephant back in the group’s work. I got a little bit confused about which was the latest post, as I couldn’t see a date on either it or the comments, but I got there in the end!
Thanks Kate. Yes, I took dates off everything a while ago, but recently people have been getting confused. Perhaps it’s time to rethink that idea!
Your patient elephant will soon have his reward!
Yes, hopefully not too long now!
Mr. ELephant is nearly there; the perle cotton was an excellent addition! The stitching group at the community center sounds like a great way to meet people and share fiber interests. ?
Thanks Kathy. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the perle worked! The community group is a great idea. They only have one meet up a month, but fingers crossed it becomes a great hive of activity of all different types of fibre crafts.
I love stitching by hand or machine with a friend or group…always very productive and fun to see what everyone is working on. Your elephant is very fancy!
I agree Gail – stitching in a group is always lovely. Though often perhaps not overly productive! Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful elephant! I love all the different stitches and all the colors.
Thanks Ginny. It’s been a great play and learn piece.
Hi Catherine! I love the colors and textures in your elephant. This long hot summer I’ve also switched from my big bulky needlepoints to a small, portable cross-stitch. I’m using the sweet little “wool tidy” bag from the Beth Russell / William Morris kit to carry my floss, chart, a pen, some scissors, and of course the little project itself. Of course, so far it hasn’t travelled farther than the back garden, but it’s still convenient!
Thanks Sunny! I do like the idea of small projects for summer, and I understand you have had a brutal one this summer! Your little bag sounds perfect for taking your project out – even if it is no further than the back yard. At least you are close to cold drinks that way!
I love elephants and your embroidery is a beauty!
Thanks Sarah – I chose the elephant as I too love them. Thanks for stopping by!
Nice to see the elephant back here again. It’s looking lovely!
Thanks Avis. Getting that body border in has made a huge difference!
Love the design on his belly! It’s coming along nicely. Beautiful design 🙂
Thanks Christina 🙂 I think the belly is my favourite part.
The elephant is coming along very nicely! I love all the design elements you’ve put on him.
Thanks Tony! There are certainly a lot of stitches worked here! Some better than others, but as a sampler, it has been fun!
Nearly there! I love the sound of your local stitching group.
Yes, almost! I just need to focus now 🙂 It’s great they have set up a community group – and even better that it is just across the road!
I join in with everyone else to say “yay, the elephant is back”. And looking very lovely she is too.
Thanks Claire!
The elephant has a smile on his face, knowing he soon will be finished 🙂 One of the things I do miss, living on the countryside in the middle of nowhere, is a place where I can meet other creative people. So your “Crafting Centre” sounds great!
Thanks Gun! I may have to make an extra big smile ? I’ve not had a group like this in a long time – living in the country has a lot of advantages, but the city isn’t all bad ?
Your elephant is looking gorgeous! I like to have a little stitching project in my bag for any free time, I call it borrowed time stitching! The crafting centre sounds great.
Thanks Margaret. I love the idea of borrowed time stitching. I may adopt that one myself!
He is looking wonderful, Catherine.
Thanks Deborah ☺️
Your elephant looks awesome.
Thanks so much Linda!