Wednesday, December 12, 2012

octopus octopus octopus OCTOPUS

PS OCTOPUS

Sorry for the pooptastic pictures, but it's hard to take good ones when it's dark outside and you have lame shaky hands that can't keep the camera steady!  I'll add more as soon as I can. :)

The best "full" shot I got:

Lookit dem beads! :D

I decided that spiderweb roses don't belong in the ocean.
So I put real shells instead! :)

The handsome devil(fish)!

And I tried to scan it, but that didn't work either... this is the only part that came out okay!

As for the changes I made to the pattern... there are some worth noting. :)

- Changed top blackwork pattern to one of my own design.  The original had a ton of stitches that were over only one thread, and it didn't look good on a dark fabric.
- Changed the color of top and bottom blackwork from green to purple (the thread I was subbing for the green was a lot darker than the actual color and it didn't show up against my fabric).
- Coral to the left of the octopus was moved in (toward the octopus) two stitches.  It was way too close to the border originally.  I had to rip this out and redo it or I'd never like it.
- The same coral has the lines stitched in orange, not yellow as charted.
- Large border shells are backstitched in brown PTB, NOT orange PPP.
- Outlined starfish (bottom left) with blue PTB instead of black DMC.
- Octopus suckers were done with white beads turned on their sides, because I'm clever like that.
- Replaced spiderweb roses in the border with real shells.
- Stitched dense shells on border with peachy Kreinik, not yellow DD silk.

And finally, most of the threads were subbed with whatever I had in my stash, though I suspect all the DD silks were the correct colors.  I have a bunch of unmarked DDs that I got in grab bags of slightly imperfect threads, and they matched the colors I found by looking online.

So that's my first Chatelaine finish!  It won't be my last. :Db

15 comments:

  1. It is looking so beautiful..
    Happy Friday dear x

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  2. Gorgeous, congratulations on a beautiful finish! I'm still trying to work up the courage to try a Chatelaine.

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  3. WOW!!! The piece really glows! It's really a beauty (said by someone who isn't that fond of "ocean designs".
    Kind greetings,
    Ann

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  4. Поздравляю с завершением! Чудесно смотриться :)

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  5. Congrats on your finish! It is gorgeous :)

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  6. Congrats on your finish! It looks so awesome :-)

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  7. Wow! Just Wow! I really love it! I like the changes that you made, especially the beads on the octopus. I am so tempted by this design now. Congrats!

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  8. Gorgeous finish! If you think the photos are pooptastic, (love that word!), I bet it's stunning in person.

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  9. It is exquisite. A finish to be very proud of.

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  10. Amazing =)
    You did a wonderful job on this one =)

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  11. Amazing, it looks so beautiful. Love the close-up photos, Chatelaines need a ton of close-ups! The fabric is stunning and the changes you've made are just perfect for it. You should be very proud of yourself. Looking forward to seeing it framed now

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    1. Thanks Jo! I'll try to take some more pictures soon, I wasn't able to get a full shot yet and there's lots of little details that shouldn't be missed! :) I'm not sure what kind of frame to get, but I want this pretty up on the wall soon so I'd better get to thinking!

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  12. Yours is THE best! I LOVE your changes! I bought the kit from ECC but, I will try and do some things like you did...like the suckers on the Octopus! Wow, and those Jelly Fish..BEAUTIFUL! I also want to use the shells and NOT the rose spider webs. Thank you for posting this wonderful project!

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  13. Oh, I am Karen Magallon on FB boards but Chicago Mermaid on all Yuku boards.

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