Gryff: AKA Coontastic Gryffindor Update 25 May 2020

[Squirrel]

Ever the perfectionist Richard and how right that is. I am surprised you have even marked where the 2 misplaced stitches are but then again maybe not.

A fabulous update and as Debby said, we are going to miss him for a while.

[JenniferT]

That is a very plausible explanation as to why stitching often turns out darker than expected. JoAnn fabric stores here in the USA are about to have a DMC sale of 4 skeins for $1 USD so I'll happily chip in some stitching patches and/or skeins.

WHEN?

PM me if you want. You can't order it individually on the site (nor at Michael's). I may go this weekend and stock up.

[Allyn]

I'm going to miss seeing Gryff. He's coming along wonderfully. (See? I didn't say awesome!) I do look forward to seeing Luz again, though.

[richardandtracy]

Thank you all for the comments.

I know it's going slowly, but I knew that from the start it would be at least a 4 year project. Coming to the end of year 1, I am a bit behind schedule, unfortunately.

Regards,

Richard.

[wendywombat]

Looking forward to seeing Gryff again...he's my favourite of you two HUGE projects!!

[ecology665]

Richard, that is a beautiful gift to give your wife. It's coming along beautifully. I don't know what you have decided? But keep the pictures coming of your progress.

[richardandtracy]

Sorry, slightly confused. What decision don't you know I've decided about?
The most irrational recent decision I've made in the last few days is to buy a 130kg/280lb metalworking lathe (identical to my current one) so I can convert it to CNC and make pens. Hmm. Don't think it was about that, though.

Regards,

Richard.

[ecology665]

In reading the earlier posts, I thought you were going to start Gryff project over after you implemented your DMC floss card to your program.
My bad if I understood it wrong.

[richardandtracy]

No, this is the Gryff project & I converted it using the standard DMC colour definitions - the very ones I have been criticising! The definitions are a bit lighter than reality, but do provide a conversion that is good. It is just that the converted picture is not exactly like the original image, and could be better still.

Regards,

Richard.

[JenniferT]

I love the progress you've made. I have a soft spot for giant ginger kitties.

I'm not sure I could have stuck with it. My eyes are crossing from the 28 ct. I'm working on and I have prescription reading glasses.

[richardandtracy]

As it happens, I am very short sighted. Very short sighted. The prescription for my glasses is -5.5 or something like that, and I need reading glasses too. The net effect is things between 3 & 9" from my nose are in focus when I take my glasses off. That is, quite by chance, a convenient distance for seeing something as small as 28 count. Consequently I push my glasses to the end of my nose and look over the top at the stitching which is not far from the end of my nose. Having a head torch helps too, as one of the biggest difficulties in small work is getting the light where you need it.

A useful thing for you could be a large magnifier or something like this wonderful fashion statement: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/ ... nification
Regards,

Richard.

[Serinde]

I'm not quite as short-sighted as you, Richard, but not far off. That headband looks very useful. Is the LED light very blue? (I'm assuming it isn't "daylight".)

[richardandtracy]

I use an LED head torch & have no experience of the magnifier one from RS components. 'White' LED's these days do tend to be a little blue-ish but only in comparison to tungsten/warm CF light. Generally they aren't too far off daylight colours. Certainly the ones on my £1.98 head torch are pretty good.
Another slightly cheaper, but longer delivery time, option can be found on e-bay here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/headband-magnifier. Many of them look as if they may be easier to use, with larger lenses covering both eyes. May consider one of these in the new year to see if they make stitching 'even' easier.

Regards,

Richard.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Being short-sighted can be a boon to a stitcher - I'm -7/-8 and find that miniature embroidery or goldwork becomesa LOT easier when i take my glasses off (Makes watching telly at the same time practically impossible though...)

[richardandtracy]

Been working on Gryff since the new year off & on. There is quite a lot of confetti (not 'spaghetti' as I typed for my first effort) in his tail, and I have come to the conclusion that the best way to work in this area is to cross country a thread until it runs out, but doing all the stitches of that colour in a 10x10 block before moving onto the next 10x10 block. Seems to be leading to a smaller number of stitches I have to remove and stops me getting lost. In other areas, where there are fewer colours, scanning across half or the whole page with a colour seems more effective. It's also leading to a much thinner mat on the back of the fabric.
I've not had as much time doing Gryff as I'd wanted, I have several big projects on at the moment, not the least of which is a 'new' 130kg metal lathe which I hope to convert to CNC (computer control) so I can get it to make pens for me without my manual input. I'm better at computers than I am at manual co-ordination...

Anyway, here's the chart, continuing with the top of his tail in page 11 of the chart, it's in heavy shadow which is why it's so dark:


And the progress as of this morning:


I'm getting some thinner red fishing line soon-ish for the intermediate making out. The stuff I have is 15lb breaking load, and it's a bit big for the holes in the fabric, so I have some 2lb breaking load line on order, which I should be able to put through the needle and treat like thread. That will speed up the marking out and also ease the difficulty of putting in stitches that share the fabric holes where the marking out thread passes through the fabric.

Hope this is of interest,

Regards,

Richard

[rcperryls]

Gryff is always interesting and I am very glad to see him back! for your update!

Carole

[Squirrel]

What a lovely bushy tail he has for sure. A great update

[Allyn]

I love seeing this one progress!

Let us (me...I really mean me) know how the fishing line works out. I tried gridding with fishing line and it annoyed me so much that I tore it all out, but I wonder if I had thinner line, it might not be so bad. I worry, too, about uneven tension among the stitches once the line is pulled out.

[richardandtracy]

Allyn,

I make sure that I stitch under the fishing line. With the thick stuff I have it's a real pain at the hole where the fishing line goes through the fabric, need to ensure that the needle is passing down through the fabric under the line, otherwise there is a risk of the needle being pushed through the fabric warp or weft. The 15lb line just about fills the 28ct fabric hole, and is too big to pass through the eye of a #26 needle. Also it's pretty stiff, so the fabric & line tend to deflect about a line half way between them, and it takes a few days for the fabric to flatten after removing the fishing line. After a little poking & prodding the stitches fill the void left by the line & you'd never know it's been there.

It is easy to remove, though, and re-usable.

Regards,

Richard.

[wendywombat]

Gryff is always interesting and I am very glad to see him back! for your update!

Carole

I am too!! He really is a Wonderful subject.