The needle, and the damage just begun
When I was little, I remember registering certain chunks of color as candy. There were green houses with pink trim and I would gnash my teeth as we drove by: "Ka-chunk. Peppermint!" The rippling color gradients on the cover of my mom's bargello books? Slurp, dude. Slurp. Mom's needlepoint projects happened while I acquired language and ate as much color as I could fit in my brain at once. I never ate crayons, though. They were for coloring, and besides, only babies eat crayons.
Winter means restlessness between naps. This is a good time for nattery physical making-things. This winter we're taking a powder on pottery; tendonitis is so not an option. And I don't knit. Never developed a taste for that flavor Kool-Aid. But in one of those discover-my-neighborhood adventures, I found a second-floor needlepoint shop four blocks north of here. (I was looking for knitting gear for grammargirl. It was her birthday, and she knits.) No knitting yarn, but cheap skeins of Persian wool and unbleached canvas? Oh yeah. And also, bargello books, which are a rarity. There are like 7 titles, all of which went out of print the exact same day in, like, 1979 and then since then have accrued layers of whispered legend and big bucks on ebay. I've tried other needlepoint over the years since I waved bye to my mom's book stash, but never managed to finish anything. Kits always lost me halfway through, but I couldn't quite justify going around the beginner's slope if I couldn't even finish a kit project. I only did them because there was nothing else I really wanted and I was too intimidated to start from scratch. To do what I wanted, I needed one good bargello book, unbleached mono-weave canvas, and some quality tapestry yarn. And here they were.
Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery consisting of upright flat stitches laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs. The name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a "flame stitch" pattern.
Traditionally, Bargello was stitched in wool on canvas. Embroidery done this way is remarkably durable. It is well suited for use on pillows, upholstery and even carpets, but not for clothing. In most traditional pieces, all stitches are vertical with stitches going over two or more threads.
Traditional designs use many hues of one colour, which produce intricate shading effects. The patterns are naturally geometric, but can also resemble very stylised flowers or fruits. Bargello is considered particularly challenging, as it requires very precise counting of squares for the mathematical pattern connected with the various motifs to accurately execute designs.
Ritual labor and textural fugue. Three threads led by a needle travel by fingers through a cloth, leaving shapes like musical shorthand for rhythm and pitch. And the first verse is complete:
November 2008
Finished surface 7.5" x 9.25" in 3-ply Persian wool on #13 mono unbleached 8" x 10.5" canvas.
Winter means restlessness between naps. This is a good time for nattery physical making-things. This winter we're taking a powder on pottery; tendonitis is so not an option. And I don't knit. Never developed a taste for that flavor Kool-Aid. But in one of those discover-my-neighborhood adventures, I found a second-floor needlepoint shop four blocks north of here. (I was looking for knitting gear for grammargirl. It was her birthday, and she knits.) No knitting yarn, but cheap skeins of Persian wool and unbleached canvas? Oh yeah. And also, bargello books, which are a rarity. There are like 7 titles, all of which went out of print the exact same day in, like, 1979 and then since then have accrued layers of whispered legend and big bucks on ebay. I've tried other needlepoint over the years since I waved bye to my mom's book stash, but never managed to finish anything. Kits always lost me halfway through, but I couldn't quite justify going around the beginner's slope if I couldn't even finish a kit project. I only did them because there was nothing else I really wanted and I was too intimidated to start from scratch. To do what I wanted, I needed one good bargello book, unbleached mono-weave canvas, and some quality tapestry yarn. And here they were.
Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery consisting of upright flat stitches laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs. The name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a "flame stitch" pattern.
Traditionally, Bargello was stitched in wool on canvas. Embroidery done this way is remarkably durable. It is well suited for use on pillows, upholstery and even carpets, but not for clothing. In most traditional pieces, all stitches are vertical with stitches going over two or more threads.
Traditional designs use many hues of one colour, which produce intricate shading effects. The patterns are naturally geometric, but can also resemble very stylised flowers or fruits. Bargello is considered particularly challenging, as it requires very precise counting of squares for the mathematical pattern connected with the various motifs to accurately execute designs.
Ritual labor and textural fugue. Three threads led by a needle travel by fingers through a cloth, leaving shapes like musical shorthand for rhythm and pitch. And the first verse is complete:
November 2008
Finished surface 7.5" x 9.25" in 3-ply Persian wool on #13 mono unbleached 8" x 10.5" canvas.