And it didn’t really look any worse than a French knot after all and French knots REALLY aren’t bad, no matter what kind of reputation they’ve got.

Maybe it’s because I’m doing it all in cotton floss instead of crewel wool but I am battling with each and every one of these little suckers. It knots too tightly around the tail and then I can’t get the tail through, so there I sit with needle and laying tool trying to get it apart again so that I can get the tail between the stitches of an even length and tension. They’re driving me insane. I CAN do knots (although I’m not particularly eager to spend large amounts of time with bullion knots again anytime soon) but this guy has got me stumped.

Anyway, only a few centimeters left, that’s all, then I can leave this knot behind me.

I found a few likely candidates a few weeks ago and started of again. At that time I posted an update to Flickr but it was already pretty clear when I took the photo that one of the string substitutes wasn’t going to cut the mustard. It was too stiff and thick, didn’t like to bend into tight corners and was about twice the height of the other strings. So I unpicked those bits again.

Then I started off, with a few more circles and swirls and realised that I’d given him matching round cheeks… hmm, didn’t look good at all so out it came. A few more hours and I realised I’d put a bullseye in the middle of his forehead -arrggghhhh- out that came too. So with probably another fifteenhours of stitching on it I have about four hours to show for it.

But I guess that’s what happens when you’re trying out new stuff, hey?

So here is the current status. What do you think?

Maria Inmaculada is one of the Virgin series of cross stitch patterns born from a collaboration between Stitchalicious and Karolina Kruz of Luciluxx. The design is only 66 x 100 stitches, but uses partial stitches to give a huge amount of detail. Want to push the boundaries of your cross stitch? Then give half stitches a try!

Here, she’s available in a kit, with the pattern printed on high quality print on card and packaged with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads. For the pattern alone, please go here.

Difficulty: Bring It On Baby!

Other designs in this series are:

Maria Esperanza

Maria Dolores

Maria Dolores is one of the Virgin series of cross stitch patterns born from a collaboration between Stitchalicious and Karolina Kruz of Luciluxx. The design is only 66 x 100 stitches, but uses partial stitches to give a huge amount of detail. Want to push the boundaries of your cross stitch? Then give half stitches a try!

Here, she’s available in a kit, with the pattern printed on high quality print on card and packaged with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads. For the pattern alone, please go here.

Difficulty: Bring It On Baby!

Other designs in this series are:

Maria Inmaculada

Maria Esperanza

Maria Esperenza is one of the Virgin series of cross stitch patterns born from a collaboration between Stitchalicious and Karolina Kruz of Luciluxx. The design is only 66 x 100 stitches, but uses partial stitches to give a huge amount of detail. Want to push the boundaries of your cross stitch? Then give half stitches a try!

Here, she’s available in a kit, with the pattern printed on high quality print on card and packaged with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads.  For the pattern alone, please go here.

Difficulty: Bring It On Baby!

Other designs in this series are:

Maria Inmaculada

Maria Dolores

The first series to be released are The Virgins and came out of a collaboration with Berlin-based Chilean artist Karolina Kruz, the creative force behind Luciluxx. I mean, go and check out her stuff – who wouldn’t want to be able to cross stitch it?

The Virgins are very iconic, a little ironic, and show off the best of the Berlin street art vibe. There are three to choose from Maria Dolores, Maria Esperenza and Maria Inmaculada who is pictured above.  Are you starting to get a bit bored with full cross stitches? Want to push it a bit more? These designs use a lot of partial stitches – 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 stitches – which make the finished piece detailed but not too big. The patterns are printed on good quality card which will survive being pulled in and out of bags while you’re working on it and they’re also available as kits with 14 ct Aida, DMC threads and needle. Go to the shop to check them out!

Maria Dolores is one of the Virgin series of cross stitch patterns born from a collaboration between Stitchalicious and Karolina Kruz of Luciluxx. The design is only 66 x 100 stitches, but uses partial stitches to give a huge amount of detail. Want to push the boundaries of your cross stitch? Then give half stitches a try! She’s available either as the pattern only, as a high quality print on card stock, or a complete kit with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads.

She’s available either as the pattern only, as a high quality print on card stock, or a complete kit with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads. For the kit, please go here.

Difficulty: Bring It On Baby!

Other designs in this series are:

Maria Inmaculada

Maria Esperanza

She’s available either as the pattern only, as a high quality print on card stock or complete as a kit with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads. For the kit, please go here.

Difficulty: Bring It On Baby!

Other designs in this series are:

Maria Inmaculada

Maria Dolores

Maria Inmaculada is one of the Virgin series of cross stitch patterns born from a collaboration between Stitchalicious and Karolina Kruz of Luciluxx. The design is only 66 x 100 stitches, but uses partial stitches to give a huge amount of detail. Want to push the boundaries of your cross stitch? Then give half stitches a try!

She’s available either as the pattern only, as a high quality print on card stock, or a complete kit with 14ct Aida fabric, needle and DMC threads. For the kit, please go here.

Difficulty: Bring It On Baby!

Other designs in this series are:

Maria Esperanza

Maria Dolores

Please sign up beforehand by either sending me an email, leaving a comment here or going via La Bastellerie’s site (click on Anmelden to sign up).

Here are the details again in German:

Was Du schon immer über Sticken wissen wolltest, aber nie zu fragen wagtest:

Jacinta Lodge (www.stitchalicious.com ) führt Dich gekonnt in die Kunst des Stickens ein.

Workshop-1, 4.2.2010, 18:30 – 21.30 Uhr

Sticken für Einsteiger
Hier lernst Du die Grundkenntnisse im Umgang mit Stick-Nadel und Faden, was diese seltsamen Muster bedeuten, und die häufigsten verwendeten Stiche und Techniken. Am Endes des Tages hast Du dein erstes cooles Stück selbst gestickt!

Workshop-2, 4.3.2010, 18.30 – 21.30 Uhr

Coole Klamotten selbst gestalten
..oder Kissen, T-Shirst, Taschen, Tücher. Bring ein Kleidungsstück mit, oder beginne mit einem unserer Geschirrtücher. Lerne, wie man Designs auf Stoff überträgt und diese dann mit der richtigen Technik stickt. Gib Deinen Kleidungsstücken eine ganz persönliche Note. Verwende dazu eines unserer Designs oder bring ein eigenes Bild mit!

Beide Kurse können unabhängig von einander belegt werden.

Kosten 20 Euro / Abend .Materialkosten Extra.