A Minor Distraction...

This wasn't planned. This was a totally spur of the moment thing. I've been fighting the urge for a new start for a while -- after all, I'm starting something on the 18th, right? -- but I wanted something large. I know it's crazy, but I was even contemplating starting one of my supersized HAEDs. But I resisted, for a while. Now I guess my willpower finally failed me, or maybe this chart was just too irresistible. In any case, I've got a new project to show you.

This is the Marquise de Caumont La Force, charted by Golden Kite:

Isn't she lovely? I've had this chart for a few years now, and I always told myself this would be one I'd like to finish in my lifetime. But I kept putting off starting her, probably because I'm too lazy to set up all those blended threads. But I've been doing a lot of thinking about my stash and the way I stitch, and which charts I want to work on in the future. So last week I printed out her thread list and put her in my "to be kitted" pile.

I couldn't stop thinking about her though, so I started to look at her more closely. Her first two pages have only five symbols, and all the colors were in my stash. I had the fabric, too. And plenty of needles. See where this is going?

I was home Friday, taking an unexpected sick day, but I wasn't too sick to stitch. And that was when I caved in completely. Stitching was about all I did that day, but not on my focus projects for this month, Crystals and Crows or Moon Indigo. Nope, I threw all that planning out the door and went for my Marquise. And not just on Friday, either. This affair has lasted all weekend, and I really don't want to stop! We are having too much fun together. :)

I'm trying out a new style of stitching with her, the "diagonal" method. I've kind of made up my own way of doing it, but I am stitching rows of 10, with each row offset by 1 stitch. So here's what she looks like:

I started in the top left corner, which is mostly green with bits of black and brown. Pretty boring so far, but it really has been difficult to put my needles down. I've done 1275 stitches so far, and have just touched into page 2 at the top. My plan is to stitch across the top row of pages in this diagonal fashion, then drop down to the second row, so I won't be stitching diagonally across all the pages from corner to corner. She's got 72 pages, after all. :) Of course, that plan might change once I get to the heaviest confetti, but I'll work it out when I get there.

Usually I like to set up Golden Kite charts with those cool Pako organizers. It takes maybe two for the floss and 3 or 4 for the needles, but they really are a life saver. Since I just threw this project together, I'm going the cheap route for now, putting all my blends onto bobbins. If you've never tried this before, here's how it looks:

I just cut equal lengths of thread from both colors and wrap them together around the bobbin, and mark each one with both colors and the symbol for reference. I like long lengths of thread, so I cut all mine to 31 inches. There are 313 inches of thread in a skein of DMC, so this means 10 lengths from each skein. Just a little fyi in case you want to start a blended project, too. :)

I don't know how long I'll keep going on her, but I'll probably keep her in the rotation for the next several weeks. I'll try not to neglect my other projects too much. (Now I'm feeling guilty...)

If you'd like to learn more about diagonal stitching, check out Blitstitch on YouTube. He is very technical, but it's good info. There are other tutorials out there, though. I think the one that made it click for me  is this one from Needle Bugg. Don't be afraid to try new things! You might find a method that is perfect for you. :)

That's all I have for now. I should be back with a more normal update next week. Until then, happy stitching!