MooshieStitch Monday: Interlaced Cable Chain Stitch (& TAST Anniversary)

Have you heard of the TAST challenge?

It stands for Take A Stitch Tuesday and is found on Sharon B's Pintangle blog.

The basics of Take A Stitch Tuesday: to challenge stitchers of all skill levels to learn a new stitch a week or if you already know it, experiment with that stitch.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because in 2017, TAST is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary!!

How cool to think that a stitching challenge has been going online for a decade!

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary, I completed the Interlaced Cable Chain Stitch.

I chose the Interlaced Cable Chain Stitch, because it is a stitch that I left off from when I was participating in the TAST challenge back in 2013 through 2015.

Here is a great tutorial on Pintangle from Sharon on how to work the Interlaced Cable Chain Stitch.

Need to learn the Cable Chain first? Watch Mary's video tutorial!

Just for fun, I decided to add onto the stitch - so I did another two rows of the cable chain above and below.

I like to draw a line in water soluble pen to keep my stitching as straight as possible.

Here it is finished.

Sharon re-started last week with stitch #69 - Magic Chain Stitch. Check it out!

More information about the TAST challenge, guidelines, and stitch list by number can be found here.

Have you ever participated in Take a Stitch Tuesday? Let us know!

And if you are interested -  all of my completed Take a Stitch Tuesday stitches can be found here.

Orange and gray

stitched by Liana D

I love this unusual combination of colors and the subtle beauty they impart to these gorgeous TAST stitches by Liana D. According to her photo, the stitches are: Whipped buttonhole, knotted feather, French knots, and triangular feather 'whipped' with scroll stitches. Beautiful, Liana D!

Butterfly chain stitch

Stitched by het groene kamertje

Before I saw this little sampler by Audrey, I had no idea what a Butterfly chain stitch was. I adore the gorgeous bright colors and all the beautiful texture in this piece. Wonderful work, Audrey!

Want to learn the Butterfly chain stitch? Try this video by best embroidery design.

Take A Stitch Tuesday: Chain stitch

Well, here's another stitch I'm an old hand at - and it's one of my faves. This week's stitch on the Take A Stitch Tuesday challenge is the Chain stitch. I love using Chain stitch for lettering, as I did on the Lazy daisy and Chevron stitch hoops - it's curvy and chunky, and I find it easier to control than your average back stitch. I also threw in a bit of detached chain (lazy daisy), french knots, and back stitch for good measure.

If you want to learn to do the Chain stitch:
video tutorial on Needle n Thread
lovely photo tutorial on The Purl Bee

Here are my three TAST pieces so far, together on my wall:


I used another scrap of the same pillowcase - only this time, I filled the entire hoop with the blue fabric. I really love the look of white chain stitch on the light blue background - it's so subtle and texture-y. :)



I had the most fun yet just "winging it" with this hoop and stitching with no particular plan in mind. I love that silent place you go to when you're deep in the middle of crafting - you don't notice that there's nothing on tv, nothing on the radio, and you're just immersed in doing. To me, that's been the most wonderful part of doing Take a Stitch Tuesday this month.

Are you taking part in Take A Stitch Tuesday? Please leave a link to your blog in the comments so we can all have a look! I'll do a final roundup of everyone's blogs next week on my last TAST post. :)

Here are the peeps who've left their blog links so far:
Lisa: http://thetruevine.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/take-a-stitch-tuesday-chevron-stitch/
Rose: http://www.therosejournal.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://lovelymesses.blogspot.com/search/label/TAST
Jennifer: http://www.marriedtoabmw.com/search/label/Embroidery
Hanna: http://www.ihanna.nu/tag/tast/
Faith: http://airynothing.net/Blogs/anblog/tast/
Kathy: http://eclecticlamb.wordpress.com/category/embroidery/
Susan: http://cq4fun.livejournal.com/

Take a Stitch Tuesday: Lazy daisy

This week's Take a Stitch Tuesday stitch is the Lazy daisy. Well, I am no stranger to the Lazy daisy (or detached chain) stitch, so I had fun playing with it last night. I've done many embroidered pieces that used oodles of Lazy daisies - most notably Lottie the dog-faced girl (a pattern by Badbird) and this pink doe.

If you dig vintage embroidery patterns like I do, you'll find tons of lazy daisies in them, so if you want to stitch vintage, this is the stitch to learn.

If you'd like to learn the Lazy daisy stitch, try:

Video tutorial by Mary Corbet

Stitch School post by Primrose Design

Tutorial on Curious Doodles

I kept it simple on the daisies, stitching most of them in increments of 5 - an arrangement that seems to be common in real flowers.  I used the same 3 colors of floss I used for the last piece - I plan to use only those 3 on all my hoops.

Here she is next to my chevron hoop from last week's Take A Stitch Tuesday:


You'll notice I used a scrap from the same striped blue and white pillowcase, I just turned it in a different direction for variety. I promise I will get them in better light for a final set of photos - in the meantime, thanks for bearing with these evening shots. :)

Here's the links to people participating in TAST:
Jennifer: http://www.marriedtoabmw.com/search/label/Embroidery
Hanna: http://www.ihanna.nu/tag/tast/
Faith: http://airynothing.net/Blogs/anblog/tast/
Kathy: http://eclecticlamb.wordpress.com/category/embroidery/
Susan: http://cq4fun.livejournal.com/

If you've joined in, please leave a link to your blog or Flickr set in the comments and I'll add you to next week's post! Until next week! :)

Take A Stitch Tuesday: Chevron

As promised, I'm joining the Take A Stitch Tuesday challenge all February long. I'm posting my results here, please leave a link to your blog or Flickr stream in the comments if you're joining in, too!

The chevron stitch was relatively easy and fun - I didn't have counted fabric on hand, but I had a scrap of pillowcase, and I thought the subtle white stripes would make a great "guide" to line up my stitches:



I tested out three weights of thread - from top to bottom - regular perle cotton, 4 strands of embroidery floss, heavy perle cotton.

Then I used white perle cotton to chain stitch "chevron" down the side:



Want to learn the chevron stitch?
This wonderful video by Mary Corbet was a great help.

2 excellent photo tutorials of the chevron stitch:
Sarah Whittle's blog
Big B's blog

Feather stitch

stitched by Smallest Forest

I am in awe of this feather stitched work by Smallest Forest. I really can't remember the last time I saw something so artful and beautiful. Read about her design process on her blog.

She's taking on the TAST, or Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge, and this February, I will be too! I doubt I'll create anything as amazing as this, but I'm giving it a go for 4 weeks - and I'll be posting my results here each Tuesday in February. Are any of you already doing the TAST challenge? Please leave a link so we can see your work! :)