Day 6 at Hampton Court is looming, so I thought I ought to get back to a bit of Crewel work. Unfortunately, this weekend, I am suffering with a summer cold and end of term exhaustion – meaning many mistakes – and probably a lot of unpicking!
I have tried to finish the chain stitching and stem stitching along the two main branches – but am now not sure how to fill in some sections within the bottom part of the trunk – or whether to simply leave them blank. The heavy chain swirls are completed, but I am not sure I like the different shades of green in them. Some of the mistletoe has also been prepared (again) for padded satin stitch.
I then used raised button hole stitch for the vine around the left hand branch. It looks very similar to raised stem stitch and was formed in a similar way over a series of parallel bars (so I am not quite sure what the real difference is). My cold really started to take hold and tiredness meant that I began to make mistakes at this point – and as you can see the vines do not look like they flow around the branch. So this will need to be unpicked along with the middle hillock at the bottom. Oh well – I still have one more weekend before my next lesson.
sweetfallenangels 
We do become very picky don’t we! I hope your cold mends itself so you can get the most out of the next class
So do I Catherine, I have a three day gold work course before day 6 of the certificate!
I hope you get over your cold before class starts.
So do I, have about a week to get over it – but am currently smack bang in the middle of it!