Embroidery.... more embroidery... embroidery experiments... and some printed embroidery designs you can buy soon!

I'm still in embroidery mode. Witness:

Both of these designs are from Urban Threads.  The Mendhika Alphabet . I'm a little over half done with the blocks.

Worked with 2 strands of floss, in a 10" hoop, on a good quality flour sack dishtowel.

and so is this one (note that I embroidered Mr. Wino on the wrong side of the towel...). The design is free until Saturday, Jan 16, but Urban Threads designs are very reasonably priced even when they're not free.

My current Facebook profile pic...

and this one.

But I also have been designing. I had a yard of my Folk Art Santas printed by Spoonflower, but unfortunately, I chose the wrong fabric (it was too heavy for comfortable hand embroidery) and had to start over.

This time, I ordered swatches

Top: Heavy Cotton Twill, Lower Left: Satin, Lower Right: Basic Cotton (best for embroidery)

The printed cotton swatch- the lines are exactly the right width and color for stitching.

I used a 6" hoop and 1 strand of floss for this embroidery.

I colored the faces with crayon and set it with a dry iron (and paper towels to absorb the wax)

I love love love how this came out. The crayon did not wash out.

I colored the Cotton Twill swatch with Prismacolor pencils (more on them in a future post) and the outlines were redrawn with a superfine point, waterproof ink marker. The sizes are different on purpose (they can be ordered on swatches as bigger or smaller). I have fixative to make the pencil coloring washable, but I doubt this piece will be washed. I think it'll end up in a wall hanging.

This is the Fat Quarter Folk Art Santa set of motifs. My sample should be here tomorrow, and it can go up for sale at Spoonflower as soon as it arrives. You can order the Trio Santa swatch now, if you like, or wait for the fat quarter to be available (which is a much better bargain). These are all my original drawings, based on wood carvings I did in the  90's.

My Spoonflower designer name is grammak, and here is my shop (other original fabrics are available). I'll post an updated link when the Fat Quarter is up and running. I plan to put together at least one more Fat Quarter set of designs.

The Basic Cotton is good for embroidery and quilting. The Cotton Twill is great for coloring and painting, though I think you could embroider on it easily enough. I haven't tried the Satin yet, but I suspect it'll embroider up nicely as well.

The Inspirational Umbria Workshop/Activity Schedule

Here's what we'll be doing in Todi, Italy, from May 24-30, 2015. Won't you come and join us? The registration and info links are to the upper right of the main blog page. We are going to have such an amazing time!

And in case you don't feel like clicking to enlarge, here's the text:

Sunday May 24 

Arrival: Unpack, relax, nap, soak in the beauty of the Hotel Bramante, and Todi 
Welcome Dinner: Meet your fellow traveling designers

Monday May 25

Morning Workshop Open Your Eyes: How to see the designs around us, tools to use in translating those designs, design and chart making exercises 
Afternoon Excursion to Assisi: Observe, sketch, take notes and photos for original knitting designs 
Evening: Free Time

Tuesday May 26

Morning Workshop Translating Inspiration: Turning our observations, ideas, sketches and photos into usable stranded knitting charts 
Afternoon Todi Yarn Crawl: Purchase yarns for your original projects 
Evening: Wine Tasting

Wednesday May 27

Morning Workshop Finalizing Original Design Charts: Choosing colors for your designs, and adding your new designs to provided charts for hats, mittens, and/or sweaters 
Afternoon: Free Time for Knitting or Relaxing, or an Optional Guided Tour of Todi 
Evening: Cooking Class, Pizza/Pasta

Thursday May 28

Morning Workshop A No-Pucker, No-Twisted Yarns, Stranded Knitting Tutorial: Begin knitting your original design 
Afternoon: Free Time for Knitting or Relaxing. Kathleen will be available for design or knitting troubleshooting 
Evening: Medieval Dinner with Archery Demonstration

Friday May 29

Morning Workshop Finishing Techniques: A discussion of finishing techniques, including steeking, which isn’t as scary as it sounds 
Afternoon: Free Time for Knitting or Relaxing. Kathleen will be available for design or knitting troubleshooting 
Evening: Short Presentation: Moving Forward with Your Original Designs

Saturday May 30

Departure: Saying good-bye to new friends, and old

Registration for Inspirational Umbria is now open!

Edited to add: There is a $70 discount for students and a $50 discount for companions for those who register before Oct 15, 2014!

We are thrilled to announce that registration for Inspirational Umbria, a week of knitting and design workshops with Kathleen Taylor, to be held at the Hotel Bramante in Todi, Umbria, Italy, May 24-30, 2015, is now open!

Registration is limited to just 18 students, plus companions.

Fees cover room (single or double occupancy) at that amazing hotel, 5 half-days of workshops in knitting and design (for students), afternoon excursions to Assisi, a guided tour of Todi, yarn crawls and more, breakfasts, 3 light lunches, 3 suppers, wine tastings, and cooking classes. Companions get all of the above, except the workshop classes.

Student Single (1 person per room): $2325/1700 euro 
Student Double (2 persons per room): $1900/1400 euro 
Companion Fee: $1175/875 euro

Send an e-mail to Alexandra Hook at inspirationalumbria@gmail.com for details, and to register.

Don’t wait- this workshop will fill up quickly!

Can’t wait to see you all there!

Inspirational Umbria, Todi Italy, May 24-30 2015!!!! IT'S ON!!!!!!

I am about to hyperventilate here- the dates have been set for a week-long knitwear design workshop in Todi, Italy. And I will be teaching! In Italy! In May 2015.

The focus of the in-depth workshop will be on translating landscape and architectural features and details and impressions into charts for stranded and Fair Isle knitting. Every student will go home with an original, and completely unique, pattern of his or her own design. Not only will we use the beautiful town of Todi as inspiration, we'll be taking excursions to Assisi, and surrounding areas. Classes will be in the morning, excursions in the afternoon (including a yarn crawl- there are three yarn stores in Todi, wine tasting, a cooking class, and a Medieval archery demo), and great food in the evening. Friendship and laughter all day, every day. It's going to be fun, lemee tellya.

Prices for the retreat have not been set yet, but here's the flyer:

Feel free to copy and distribute this flyer anywhere you like. I also have a PDF file- e-mail me if you'd like it as well.

As if the above wasn't enough of an incentive- take a gander at the hotel where we'll be staying:

 I was rendered speechless (a rare and wonderful thing) when I went to the Hotel Bramante website. *Amazing* doesn't begin to cover it. Be sure to watch the video.

And if you need a little more incentive, the workshop facilitator Alexandra Hook, sent me this picture of Todi itself:

As the rest of the details are settled, I'll let you all know. Come and join us for the adventure of a lifetime!

Edited to add: I just started a Ravelry group called Inspiring Umbria- come and join us!