busyFirst, here it is all in the Ziploc bag I keep it in. The pattern sheets are a bit too tall for the bag, but it works to keep everything together. The gold isn't in there because I need it for a different project right now. (I have lots, no worries about running out.)
So, the pattern itself.
I designed this project myself, several years ago. I actually did it on regular graph paper but that was ridiculous, so when I found a pad of cross stitch design paper (with 14-count, 18-count, and 24-count pages) I leapt on it.
First is the front, which is what I'm working on right now. The four rectangles will be cut out and something else will show through (that picture is later).
This is the spine. JH is my initials there at the bottom. :)
And the back is maybe going to be a pocket. If it is, this is the bottom:
and this is the flap.
If it's not a pocket, I will do this design instead. I think it's rather pretty!
Okay, so the part that'll go in behind the cutouts is this. It's a tile design that I'm colouring with Pentel gel pens. I'll laminate it first.
Now, the WIP itself! Done 3 over 1 on 14-count Aida. The whole thing will be lined with cotton, to give it strength. Probably butterflies because I love butterflies.
This is the whole piece of fabric that I'm working with, cut to precisely the size I need to go over my Bible (it's a rather large HarperCollins Study Bible with the Apocrypha in it).
Here's just the part I'm working on right now. I'm using church colours and trying to decide if I should do the backstitching in gold or in black. The variegated floss was fun to work with. How I did it was, I cut a long bit off the skein and then pulled out my three strands. When I finished with the first half of the floss and was ready to go with the second half, I actually started it at the other end from where I had just finished working. That way the colour changes happened much more logically and I think they look more natural, for the lack of a better word. For the middle part, I'm working both the red and the blue at the same time, and using two flosses for each colour, so that I can get the feel of the two strands of knotwork. I don't know if that makes sense. Anyway, that's why there are random bits of floss sticking up through the middle of the white spaces. :) (Oh, this is right side up, but I'm working it upside-down so it's easier to get the stitches going all the same direction.)
Here's a closeup of where the blue intersects with the edging. My count got off at one point, and I didn't realize it until I was nearly finished with the purple, so I had to rip out a bunch of green and redo it. From now on I work all colours at the same time when I'm doing knotwork! :D
And this is basically why I decided to work red and blue at the same time, as well as working with both "ends" of the knot at once.
So, there you go! My first WIP post! :)
