Gold Leaf Holding Stitch - 2

The hotel did not have internet connection but to tell the truth, after a days stitching I was too tired to blog. I have had such a lovely week stitching, learning and chatting with friends. I will try to blog what I have learnt over the next few days. My photographs have not come out too well. There was not much natural light in the class room and my camera struggled to focus some of the time.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I completed the holding stitches on the gold foil foundation. Can you see them? It is really difficult to couch threads after you have done your best to hide them!

One thing that I was particularly looking forward to learning this week was twisting decorative, non-stitchable threads.

The red thread is a 5-1 karayori. For Karayori the same number of threads are used in both under-twists, in a 5-1 twist this is 2.5 plus 2.5. Both sets of threads are twisted as tightly as possible before being over-twisted together. As you over-twist you can see bobbles forming like a string of beads.

The blue thread is a 5-1 katayori. Katayori is an unbalanced twist, in this case 4.5 plus 0.5. 4.5 threads are first twisted very tightly and then over-twisted with the 0.5 thread. As you over-twist a knobbly thread emerges.

The green and gold thread is also a 5-1 katayori but in this case 4 strands of silk and 1 strand of #1 gold is twisted with 0.5 silk. The same knobbly effect is achieved but with the added sparkle of gold specks.

Happy Stitching