Wednesday 21 May 2008

Karahana, Head-Hands-Feet

I don’t seem to get much stitching time lately and everything I am work on is time consuming so I am making very slow progress. Last time I blogged about Karahana I was wondering which petal to stitch next. Christine kindly left a comment and reminded me on the principle of head-hands-feet. We learn this at Phase I when we are taught how to stitch the five petalled cherry and plum blossoms. One petal is always slightly bigger and on top of all the other petals. Regardless of how the blossom is orientated, this is the head and is stitched first. The two petals either side of the head are the hands, they are stitched next. The two remaining petals are the feet. One foot is always in front of the other; this foot is stitched next and finally the remaining foot that is behind all the other petals.

Susan, of Plays with Needles, was also kind enough to email me and attached a labelled diagram of the order she stitched the petals in. Susan’s diagram suggested that after the two petals I have already stitched I should complete the right hand side and then stitch the two petals on the left. Both ways stick to the basic rule that the uppermost petals are stitched before any that lie behind them. I decided to go with head-hands-feet for no particular reason other than it feels balanced!

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway


You can see Susan's beautifully stitched Karahana here.

Happy Stitching

4 comments:

Jane said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jane said...

Sorry realised I'd not made sense in the last comment! You're right of course in working the foreground first and then working backwards.
All looking good, well done.

jane
ps feeling better, still not stitching though :-(

Pam said...

I am curious about the couched thread between the leaves -- is that removed aftewards and then something else put in the space?

As always, thank you very much for posting as you work along. I love this experience.

I have started Bouquet from the Heart -- it's going along ok -- not 100% great but I am thankful the fabric is forgiving.

~Pam

Anonymous said...

Hi Jane I love watching your stitching growing you are a lovely stitcher, and I often think about head arms and feet when I am stitching it does help. Speak to you soon Sue X