It is back to the Ferry, I go. It has been quite some time since I've worked on this. It seems I last put needle to canvas in October last year. Perhaps Santa has been getting more than his fair share this 2012 year. Well, what's a fair share? I return to this structural piece of furniture that requires some thoughtful wrangling to establish a comfortable stitching arrangement. It doesn't lend itself to little bursts of stitching because by the time I've got it in place, and myself ergonomically adjusted to stitch away, I don't want to have to leap up and finish a bit of laundry, or make a bit more of the dinner. The Santa stocking being a slighter little thing could sit next to the chair in the study nook and as I chatted with the kids, I could put a stitch in here, a stitch there.
Once I find myself positioned in front of the Ferry, I get caught up in this tableau. Who is this Nanny? She is carrying the baby and a umbrella. It is clearly a lovely day and they are beautifully dressed. On their way to a party, I think. The umbrella is about shade. This is the baby's first outing as he is only 6 weeks old. His name is Emile and it was an easy birth. He has an older sister, Ernestine. His mother Cecile is still very pleased with his arrival and they are enjoying the warm Spring day. I'm glad I finished stitching the umbrella to give him some protection on the trip across the river.
I must admit this technique of multiple needles, multiple threads is driving me nuts on this canvas. The fine oblique slav, which is stitched in stranded cotton in a eucalyptus-like grey-green colour, has to be stitched from the bottom to the top. I wish I'd realised this before I launched into this canvas. I would have held off until I'd put all the fine oblique slav in, and THEN I'd revert to the DSL technique of multiple needles. In the meantime they just get in the way. I've pulled a lot of the dangly long ones up onto a magnetic needleholder but the others then need to be moved as I get to them. Sigh. I thought it was such a brilliant technique when I started. But like most things, requires some thoughtful adaptation.
Ah well. Lessons learnt. I have lots and lots of rippling, painterly, river water to stitch so its probably worth my while to adapt my style.
Previous posts
The Ferry tapestry - progress after Tapestry Guild weekend (October, 2011)
The Ferry tapestry - the 2011 September Tapestry weekend (Sept 2011)
The Ferry - E.Phillips Fox - Baxtergraphix Tapestry (April 2011)