Having stitched all twelve of the Song of the Weather designs in blue and white standard perles, working out thread requirements and seeing whether stitches worked together, I am now stitching them all again using a variety of threads and fabrics. There are several reasons for this.

• It was difficult to take pictures of tricky parts when I stitched them first time round, because I wasn’t quite sure yet what the tricky parts were;
• As people have different fabric preferences it is useful to show what the projects look like on different counts;
• The first version shows what you can do on a limited budget, the second will give options for those wishing to expand their thread repertoire;
• And finally, any excuse to play with my collection of hand-dyed and other speciality threads !

One problem is that it can be difficult – not to say downright impossible sometimes – to pick two shades that will work together if you can only see them on a computer monitor. I have one or two threads in my stash which bear witness to the fact that what looks irresistible on-screen can look less than enchanting in real life. Most sellers, however, are quite happy to give advice; I remember getting shades of Splendor silk together for Papillon’s “Quaker Gameboard” and Bobbie at Stitching Bits & Bobs helping me out by checking them against DMC shades.

So I’m waiting for the digital postman to bring me word from Treenway Silks, whose delectable silks are a joy to work with and who have created some of the prettiest variegated threads I have ever seen, and I am also waiting for the real-life postwoman to bring me two types of Tamar Embroideries’ hand-dyed cottons in three shades, some Caron threads and Weeks Dye Works perle #5 and #8 in four shades. Lots of lovely things to look forward to!

Obviously I haven’t got pictures of all these lovely goodies yet, but I’ll show you a combination I’m hoping to use for something or other soon. It’s standard DMC perle 815 in combination with Treenway’s Fine Cord, shade “Tangiers”, probably to be used on dark red fabric, possibly with silk ribbon in the same shade as the Fine Cord – yum!