HAED Seasons

[Steam.Jo]

I had not planned to do this but it appeared on Fleabay for a good price and before I knew what had happened I had hit the buy it now button and it was mine



This HAED comes in three sizes (number of stitches in brackets): Which could be described as Big (260x360), HUGE (525x656), and Planet sized (799x999) This one is only HUGE, with a mere 344 thousand stitches ... If I do a block of 10 by 10 stitches every day that is 9 1/2 years

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

It came as a kit with both the charts, threads and a piece of 18 count Aida from a company called Colray who I believe no longer are trading. For some reason I thought it had only 25 pages so was a bit shocked to discover it actually has:



49 pages of stitching

I have scanned those into a pdf file so I can "zoom" in to the section I am stitching and have also enlarged them up onto A3. A3 is not really big enough so I might try viewing the detail on a tablet.

There are 90 different colours in the piece and the kit comes with 167 skeins of thread:



Need to go out so will continue here shortly

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

Yup, that will keep you out of mischief for a good long time

[rcperryls]

I said on your other thread that you were motivating my stitchy bug when you got this project and yesterday I began looking at my WIP of "Dancing with the Cat" which was started what feels like decades ago. Had to remember some of the tricks I have used with the Good Notes program I use on my iPad which is where I keep all my charts. I like it because it's easy to really zoom in on a chart, I can plot ahead what I want to stitch, highlight what is done and have several windows open so that if a stitch continues on the next page of the chart I can put them side to side(it always has felt wasteful to me to stop stitching because the same stitch/color continues on the next page, especially if it is only a few stitches and I still have plenty of thread on my needle). I of course have a more than usual busy schedule the beginning of this week, but am getting ready to jump back in. Thank you.

Carole

[Steam.Jo]

Thank you Mabel - I didn't realise the size when I brought it

Carole: Good to hear this is encouraging you to work on your own HAED. One of the Ladies I went walking this morning told me she brought a HAED kit about 4 years ago but has not yet been brave enough to open the packet. She has promised to bring it along on Friday to show it to me.

Onward...

The kit was supplied with a piece of 18 count Aida that proved to have less than 2" top and bottom to go round the rollers (and that is another story) so I started exploring my stash and found a suitably HUGE piece of 20 count even weave. Gridding it out I found that it is not 20 count but nearer to 21 count . Having found a suitable frame I thought there was a 1/2" gap round the piece but I now find it is 1" wide. I could add to the piece an extra 20 stitches on each side which will add 50 thousand more stitches to the piece



Learning to grid out the even weave was "interesting". Lets say it got better as time went on In between gridding out I needed a break so I have completed the preparation by making up thread cards for each of the 90 colours. These will be used to keep cut lengths of thread on while the skeins will remain in some zip folders.

The last 3 items in that photo is the symbols strips to go into my needle holders. These have been "cut and pasted" from the charts rather than my normal practise of hand drawing a symbol that often has little resemblance to the true symbol on the chart.


For now this kit is on hold: I am waiting for a 40" wide Elbesee rolling frame to arrive from Very Crafty on which I will be mounting the even weave. The other 3 items I am waiting for are new needle holders which are coming all the way from China, but their arrival will not delay the start

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

I could add to the piece an extra 20 stitches on each side which will add 50 thousand more stitches to the piece

erm, or you could use a mat/mount? or even find a different frame?

Love to see your preparations, you're very meticulous!

[rcperryls]

I am very impressed with your organization. I grid my fabric so that I usually have 4 pages to work on. I would not be able to stitch an entire project at one time. Besides since I don't use a stand much the lines fade and I would need to redo them anyway. Really, I think stitching TW designs is more difficult. HAED charts have no mixed threads, no fractional stitches and no back stitching. An enormous amount of confetti though, which makes up for some of it. I have actually finished 3, and have started way too many more. But once I start back, I know I will be hooked again.

Carole

[Steam.Jo]

I do hope that the messy grid lines at the top of the fabric fade Carole. I will have to look at them until I can scroll them up .

Speaking of scrolling Very Crafty are being slow about sending out my roller frame it is three days now. If you recall the last Elbesee frame I brought the tapes were twisted round the dowel and replacements were needed - so I have a bit of a feeling of foreboding on this purchase. I keep getting tempted to have a little stitch in the top left using a hoop but keep having to tell myself to use the time to progress on some of the other WIPs. One I have been looking at is my TW Peacock as I will be pinching the wooden frame mount I made to enable me to stitch that two handed so I can use it to hold the 40" new frame. The Peacock can have the Lowery frame that the Butterfly Meadow is on so I need to get on and finish that...

You can tell frustration is setting in. I have even started scanning the chart and cutting the threads to length for the first rows

Jo

[Serinde]

I could add to the piece an extra 20 stitches on each side which will add 50 thousand more stitches to the piece

erm, or you could use a mat/mount? or even find a different frame?

I'm thinking the very same thing!!

[Steam.Jo]

It shocked me how quickly just adding a couple of extra rows on the outside added up. I know it is caused by the sides having over 500 stitches each but when I calculated it

The Stitchy bug is very strong with this one

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

9 days later ad the 40" wide Elbesee roller frame for this piece has (finally) arrived. I note that the square sections that space the rollers is now smaller than they used to be and I had to reduce the length of my through frame spacers.

I have just finished stitching the material on the top roller and needed a break before doing the bottom:



Not long now, my Snitchy Stitchy bug has had me cutting lengths of the various strands I will need at the top of the piece. He seems to be back to his usual enthusiastic self as it is not long before I can start

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

That is a BIG frame

[wendywombat]

That is a BIG frame

Yes it's EEEnormous!

I've never stitched a HAED design....the shear size of one puts me off, but I admire anyone who does,
I shall watch with interest.

[rcperryls]

That is a BIG frame

A very very BIG frame! Can't wait for your to get started.

Carole

[Steam.Jo]

The word I used was HUGE

I've started...



There is 300 stitches on there

As I cannot see as far as my printed pattern on the stand at the other end of my frame I am experimenting using a spare tablet to enlarge the area of the chart I am working on. In the background you can see the 6 zippy folders each of which is filled with a group of the DMC skeins.

This could take a while

Jo

[Serinde]

Holy Moly Andy!

[Mabel Figworthy]

As they say, the biggest HAED starts with a single stitch...

[Steam.Jo]

A slight problem: where I am poking a pivot through the hole in the side frame to support the piece it keeps drooping:



I've added a photography clamp on both end now to provide extra support (it was only on one end in that pic). The Elbesee side clamps are also struggling to keep a firm grip on the wooden dowels and they keep slackening off.

The stitching is going to be slow :



I can see why they recommend going square by square stitching these. It would be so easy to loose count as it is rather small stitches. I've added a single and a pair of stitches in amongst that sea of stitches which was interesting. I have decided that I will need a smaller needle than a size 28 to finish those so I am trying some size 10 crewel for tying off.

I do hope those stitches "relax" they might look better

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

For fastening off you could try a ball-pointed beading needle perhaps?

Such tiny stitches, but they will make for lots of detail once the other colours come in!

[richardandtracy]

The dowel pivots rotating and slowly slackening off is a problem I have had myself.

My efforts at roughing them with coarse sandpaper and increasing friction didn't work. I did briefly toy with the idea of an index plate screwed to the end of the dowel and a pin into a hole in the side bars but came to the conclusion it wasn't worth the effort. In the end I put on m5 hex nuts and used a spanner. I suspect if I do them up much more, I'll need to repair the side bars when they snap.

Regards,

Richard