really upset. Do you think you’d get anything out of it? No, no, wait a minute! This may be just the thing! It’s one of those kinds of needlework that takes a little concentration and a lot of patience. Very soothing to the distressed mind. Come in.”
“I’ll write you a check tomorrow.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She gave him a quick hug. “I’m glad you came by.”
“Thank you, my dear,” he murmured, and squaring his shoulders and assuming a cheerful face, he went to the table and sat down. “Hi, Char,” he said with a smile, “hi, Bershada; hi, Shelly; hello, Mrs. Jackson; hello, Ms. Valentine.”
Char giggled. “I guess this is one person who doesn’t need to introduce himself.” Then she continued, “In theory, Hardanger isn’t difficult.” She handed the small squares around the table. “Hardanger cloth is a variety of Aida, which is a two-thread weave, so be careful not to split the weave or it will throw your count off.” Ivy, the senior woman present, moved down a chair so she could use the Dazor light attached to the table. She snapped it on and held the cloth square under it, looking at it through the big magnifying glass in its center.
“You make a kloster block by placing five stitches side by side, working over four threads,” Char said. “Everyone cut a length off the Number Five Perle floss.” She handed balls of floss and blunt needles around the table. “You’re less likely to split the fabric if the needle is blunt,” she explained. She noted with satisfaction that no one reached for a needle threader from the jar of them Betsy kept on the table; that meant there were no beginning stitchers present.
“Now, stitch a row of five vertical stitches near the center top of your fabric.” She picked up her own fabric square, pinched it to mark the center, and began to stitch. Heads came together as bottoms rose off the chairs and everyone looked at Char’s stitching. Satisfied, they all sat down and began to stitch. When everyone had done five stitches, Char said, “Now, bring your needle back through the bottom of the last stitch, and let that be the start of five horizontal stitches. You want them at an angle of ninety degrees to the vertical stitches.” She began stitching on her own cloth, but this time the others watched only the very start before sitting back down and doing their own.
Char had them do five vertical stitches across the bottom of the forming square, and five horizontal stitches leading back up the other side. “There, that forms the square that is the basic shape of Hardanger.” She told them to run the end of the thread under the original kloster and cut it off short, “So when you’re finished, it will be hard to tell the top from the underside of the project. In fact, I recommend that once you start your real project, you run a short piece of thread in near the border, bring it back up, and tie the two ends, so when you come back to it after a break, you’ll know which side is the top.”
She brought out the small heart-shaped project they’d be working on, and everyone started in. “It’s much more important that the stitches be placed correctly than that you finish this in one sitting,” said Char.
Everyone settled in to stitch; Char went around the table answering questions and pointing out errors. Betsy found it easy to do and went around quickly. But as she was forming the last kloster block, she found she only needed four stitches instead of five. It didn’t seem important, so she ran the end of her thread under the first kloster and sat back with a smile. She was the second one finished, behind Shelly.
But then Char told them the next step: Snip the fabric at the bound edge of one kloster block and the corresponding block on the other side of the pattern from it. The idea was to pull the threads out. And in Betsy’s case, that was not possible, because the two blocks were one thread off.
So Betsy had to start pulling
“I’ll write you a check tomorrow.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She gave him a quick hug. “I’m glad you came by.”
“Thank you, my dear,” he murmured, and squaring his shoulders and assuming a cheerful face, he went to the table and sat down. “Hi, Char,” he said with a smile, “hi, Bershada; hi, Shelly; hello, Mrs. Jackson; hello, Ms. Valentine.”
Char giggled. “I guess this is one person who doesn’t need to introduce himself.” Then she continued, “In theory, Hardanger isn’t difficult.” She handed the small squares around the table. “Hardanger cloth is a variety of Aida, which is a two-thread weave, so be careful not to split the weave or it will throw your count off.” Ivy, the senior woman present, moved down a chair so she could use the Dazor light attached to the table. She snapped it on and held the cloth square under it, looking at it through the big magnifying glass in its center.
“You make a kloster block by placing five stitches side by side, working over four threads,” Char said. “Everyone cut a length off the Number Five Perle floss.” She handed balls of floss and blunt needles around the table. “You’re less likely to split the fabric if the needle is blunt,” she explained. She noted with satisfaction that no one reached for a needle threader from the jar of them Betsy kept on the table; that meant there were no beginning stitchers present.
“Now, stitch a row of five vertical stitches near the center top of your fabric.” She picked up her own fabric square, pinched it to mark the center, and began to stitch. Heads came together as bottoms rose off the chairs and everyone looked at Char’s stitching. Satisfied, they all sat down and began to stitch. When everyone had done five stitches, Char said, “Now, bring your needle back through the bottom of the last stitch, and let that be the start of five horizontal stitches. You want them at an angle of ninety degrees to the vertical stitches.” She began stitching on her own cloth, but this time the others watched only the very start before sitting back down and doing their own.
Char had them do five vertical stitches across the bottom of the forming square, and five horizontal stitches leading back up the other side. “There, that forms the square that is the basic shape of Hardanger.” She told them to run the end of the thread under the original kloster and cut it off short, “So when you’re finished, it will be hard to tell the top from the underside of the project. In fact, I recommend that once you start your real project, you run a short piece of thread in near the border, bring it back up, and tie the two ends, so when you come back to it after a break, you’ll know which side is the top.”
She brought out the small heart-shaped project they’d be working on, and everyone started in. “It’s much more important that the stitches be placed correctly than that you finish this in one sitting,” said Char.
Everyone settled in to stitch; Char went around the table answering questions and pointing out errors. Betsy found it easy to do and went around quickly. But as she was forming the last kloster block, she found she only needed four stitches instead of five. It didn’t seem important, so she ran the end of her thread under the first kloster and sat back with a smile. She was the second one finished, behind Shelly.
But then Char told them the next step: Snip the fabric at the bound edge of one kloster block and the corresponding block on the other side of the pattern from it. The idea was to pull the threads out. And in Betsy’s case, that was not possible, because the two blocks were one thread off.
So Betsy had to start pulling
Similar Books
