Off to the Framer

Today I took the secret gift piece I’ve been sharing with you to a new framer.  I opted for a simple frame with no matte or glass because that will suit the recipient better than, say, the fancy gilt frame I would have picked if it was for me.  I’m really hoping he does a good job since his price was so reasonable.  If I’m happy with the result, then maybe I will take my lovely H fairy to him.

I find the framing process the most difficult part of a cross stitch project, I think.  I’m done with the piece, and now I am handing it off to someone else.  And there are so many options at a framers that, even with the framer’s advice and experience, it is easy to make a mistake in choosing the frame or matte.  But, I think all the worrying is probably for nought.  Only once have I been unhappy with the finished product: the frame for The Castle.  That was the first time I had a piece framed, and I think the frame itself is too small and that I should have had a matte.

I think knitting has it’s own version of taking somthing to the framers: the sewing up process.  You have this lovely piece, but it isn’t quite done.  Instead on needing a frame, it needs seams.  And just as the wrong frame can make a lovely cross stitch picture look a bit off, poor seams can ruin a knitting project.  Starting Wednesday evening, I’m taking a three night finishing class with the finishing guru at my LNS.  I’m really looking forward to learning the proper way to do all sort of seams and other knitterly things.  We did learn some seaming at my beginners knitting class, but at that time I was more interested in just understanding the knit and purl process, and the seaming section just didn’t stick.  So, to get ready for my class, I’ve been knitting 5″ stockette squares in Super 10.   Not the most exciting knitting project in the world, but one that will help me improve my skills so I can knit something like Evangeline one day.

Over the weekend I managed for finish up the winter tree from Jeanette Douglas’ Once Upon a Tree from Just Cross Stitch magazine.  Since I am cheap, I am using DMC for all the colours that have a DMC subsituted listed.  I did break down and get the two Gloriana colours that didn’t have a conversion.  Als, I decided to have the beads “follow” the snowflake around rather than all lie the same way. (As an aside, I can’t believe the kit JCS is selling for this.  It has full skeins of all the colours.  I didn’t even use a full lenght of any of the colours I’ve stitched with so far.  There is no need for full skeins!)