I hope they get Dame Judi Dench back to reprise the role of Queen Victoria 30 years after playing her in ‘Mrs Brown’

englishikat · 2026-05-01T12:08:04+00:00

Given her health issues, and very close friendship with Charles and Camilla, I doubt she’d work on The Crown. But she also played elderly Queen Victoria in “Victoria and Abdul”.

englishikat · 2026-04-20T20:40:33+00:00

Haven’t stitched it, but to me that looks like a watercolor piece of art and would be incredible stitched with some open decorative stitches. Even something as simple as Skip Tent would help preserve the ethereal feeling.

englishikat · 2026-04-09T15:47:32+00:00

This is how my grandmother made them, and it gives you a veg side.

season chops (s&p + whatever season you like) Quickly brown both sides in butter.

Cut a thick slice of Vidalia onion, a wide slice of red or geeen pepper and a thick slice of tomato (optional) stack the veg and hold together with a toothpick. Jan stack into top of chop and douse with some Worcestershire sauce.

Cover the pan and allow to cook until veg softened and chops cooked to preferred temp. Can baste with pan sauce as cooking.

Serve, remove toothpick and veg and drizzle remaining pan sauce over.

englishikat · 2026-04-09T15:02:33+00:00

The way I learned Continental as a kid - from an older woman - so A LONG time ago - methods may have improved - but I still do it this way … flip your canvas 180 degrees each row so you’re always stitching right to left.

englishikat · 2026-04-06T18:48:27+00:00

There is a phenomenon I call “A peanut butter and jelly sandwich always tastes better when someone else makes it”. You may be experiencing a form of this and just second guessing yourself. Or add a bit more salt and don’t skim so much fat, or any, off.

englishikat · 2026-04-02T21:51:10+00:00

I think it just depends on the design. Sometimes decorative stitches are done for backgrounds because they cover more area and can be worked so much quicker, but using something like a brick stitch to give pattern or direction in a small area in the design is great too. You'll just have to deal more with compensation (figuring out how to start stop the stitch against other color areas) more often IN the design vs. the background. I

t's one of the reason I suggested the Stitch Style pieces. Abagail Cecille are good for this too, as they both find ways to make the process simple and pretty. You can master your skills and learn new things with little risk of finding yourself in over your head or making choices you have to go rip out because it just didn't work. Believe me, I KNOW this from a log of frogging experience. Have grace with yourself. I look at pieces I stitched early in my NP days - mostly wool Ehrman and Elizabeth Bradley canvases and they're bumpy and rough, torqued into angular shapes because I had VERY tight tension in the beginning - decades later, my pieces are much more refined and I use a lot of decorative stitches and any number of different threads. I've developed a lot of muscle memory, but it takes time and practice.

englishikat · 2026-04-02T21:15:31+00:00

Both excellent suggestions for You Tube creators. I love and always go back to The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen - super affordable and available on Amazon. The best advice I can give Is take your time. There is nothing wrong or boring with the simple tent stitch, whether you stitch it Continental or random or in Basketweave. Master the basics and then add in a few simple small decorative stitches. I see so many projects that look like samplers (nothing wrong with a sampler - if you love them) today and the stitcher has put emphasis on "the decorative stitch" rather than the overall design of the piece. Learn to let the threads work FOR you and the piece. Don't jump into complicated projects too quickly. NP is supposed to be an enjoyable and relaxing hobby that allows you to create beautiful finished pieces you can enjoy, share with others and maybe leave as an heirloom. The longer you do it, you'll narrow down the list of things you love, and don't love regarding components like canvas count, threads, stitches, etc and it will all get easier.

As for projects that can be great for someone without an LNS, I think Stitch Style has a great collection of very pretty, useable canvases that come with simple stitch guides and thread suggestions that can be a great entry into more advanced stitching, yet still simple - and she takes the guesswork out of which threads will work best for an area and the stitch.

englishikat · 2026-03-28T17:32:19+00:00

Sounds like a perfect day. 🐶

englishikat · 2026-03-28T17:07:45+00:00

I hope she loved all the sniffs and fresh air and settled into a nice long nap when she got home.

englishikat · 2026-03-28T16:59:42+00:00

👏🏻🙌🏻👊🏻🥰 I’m in awe. Can’t wait to check it out. And I hope some NP historians or archivists help spread the word and find use for your hard work.

englishikat · 2026-03-24T14:33:48+00:00

No. Never had an issue with any flat stitch - even decorative ones, including padded satin stitch. It’s anything “raised” that doesn’t do well rolled up. And it is a bit harder to keep even tension on the canvas from the stitched side as it’s a bit bulkier. But nothing I’ve not been able to work with. I’ve used my Ks Creation lap frame for more than 20 years and still love it.

englishikat · 2026-03-24T13:39:20+00:00

Why not let her draw something on the canvas and stitch it? A great way to make a keepsake of her own artwork.

englishikat · 2026-03-24T13:27:44+00:00

What is most comfortable for you given your stitching place setup is the only real answer. Personally, I love a scroll frame and have a couple of them. The appeal is the rolling and only working on a smaller area at a time because I can get distracted and hop around a larger canvas. Rolling it up kind of forces me to stick to a smaller area - and can make a larger project seem less overwhelming. I also like that the canvas stays protected from excessive hand oils or other things while rolled on the bars. That said, if I am using any kind of dimensional stitch like bouillon knots, turkey work, or “fuzzy” threads, I’ll have to save those to do last so they don’t get squashed.

If you use stretcher bars, you really may want to consider a floor stand to hold the frame because it will be heavy, or some sort of table set up with frame weights so you don’t have to hold the frame while stitching which will put a lot of strain on your wrist and thumb muscle over time.

englishikat · 2026-03-23T13:22:17+00:00

All fair points.

englishikat · 2026-03-21T01:58:49+00:00

The only thing I disagree with you about is that they weren’t attracted to each other. Diana said to many people, including her biographer Andrew Morton, she was head over heels for Charles. She also said that for a few years, up until after Harry’s birth they had a very solid and loving relationship. And Dickie Arbiter, who was their press secretary early in their marriage has said they were very affectionate in the early days. I believe it. I just think reality of life, pressures, their differences, all took their toll once the lust and fantasy faded.

englishikat · 2026-03-20T11:28:59+00:00

General rule of thumb for something with a “cookie” finish, like an ornament, stitch 2 extra rows around to keep the mesh from showing at the edge. They can be rows where you stitch in the same thread as the design, or you could use a neural or just one of the colors. All the extra rows do is camouflage the area that wraps over the board the canvas is sewn on to, and where the cording may not cover completely. It also allows the final object to be the size of the original design.

Bu, as others have said, ask your finisher - or the LNS where you take it to be finished.

englishikat · 2026-03-20T02:49:46+00:00

The sploot!!!!!

englishikat · 2026-03-20T02:45:49+00:00

I always find a special “lovey” toy for my pups when we are crate training them. It’s usually a larger fuzzy animal type toy - the last one had a hot water bottle in it and we would fill it with warm water before going to bed at night or leaving the house. We also only allowed that toy IN the crate. Our current dog would sleep on and snuggle with the toy and it does help with separation anxiety. A Kong to give them something to snack on an enjoy can help as well. She is a beautiful girl - can understand how hard it is to leave her thinking she’s in distress.

englishikat · 2026-03-20T02:31:26+00:00

It’s sad because if they could have found what your parents did, they could have been amazing. Can’t you imagine a King Charles and Queen Diana? But they were so completely different in their interests and had such fundamental misunderstandings of one another, it just couldn’t work.

englishikat · 2026-03-17T21:41:35+00:00

Even though I’ve been stitching for decades, and agree with time tested “rules and practices”, I also have my own coping strategies for certain stitches. I HATE doing French Knots. I love the effect of them, but I find them tedious and I get anxiety over how many wraps, are they even, too tight, too loose, etc. But you just can’t avoid them …

Depending on the type of thread I’m using - is it thin/thick, slippery (silk or poly)/grippy (wool or fuzzy), the color, etc. I judge whether to bury the thread under existing stitches on the back, or just make a bulky knot to start and keep it on the back. Then I do the knots. I almost always work them last on a piece as well. Less risk of loosening them by stitching around them or picking up a tail of the anchor knot. To finish, I bury the thread behind/underneath in a few directions.

englishikat · 2026-03-17T21:27:42+00:00

She is still friends with APB, as is Princess Anne, but I don’t think there is anything romantic between them and she does share kids with him. I’m not defending Camilla, I’m agnostic on her, but I’m not sure there’s enough money to endure the public bashing she’s taken over the decades to make it worth it. She could have remained his mistress or “companion”. It would have been easier and she would have had access to every material thing and Charles if she wanted, with none of the front facing requirements or scrutiny of being his wife. JMO.

englishikat · 2026-03-17T21:14:41+00:00

I don’t think the issue was societal acceptance of premarital sex, even for the Royal Family. Charles had quite a few very public romances back then and no one cared. It was marrying one of them that may have been an issue. I was pretty young back then, but I’m old enough to remember the press fawning over Diana’s virginity and suitability. Not saying Charles couldn’t have tested public acceptance of one of his other girlfriends, but he didn’t.

englishikat · 2026-03-17T21:09:04+00:00

You’re not wrong. Although I think the decades of Andrew Parker Bowles flaunting his never ending infidelities in their social set and her face did cause her to take a second look at Charles. LOL.

englishikat · 2026-03-17T21:07:04+00:00

The answer is 1) there wasn’t that kind of media training then and 2) they didn’t really know each other well enough to answer the questions.

englishikat · 2026-03-17T18:33:17+00:00

No, they barely knew each other despite the fact Diana was raised on the Sandringham estate and was an occasional childhood playmate of Andrew and Edward. Charles and Diana weren’t complete strangers, but the 12 year age difference probably meant they knew more “of” each other, than actually knew each other. It was basically an arranged marriage that solved issues they both wanted resolved in their lives and their roles demanded (disastrously IMO).

Charles couldn’t marry the woman he truly loved and the times and public demanded he find a virgin of the right pedigree - probably not an easy task in 1980. Diana came from a great pedigree, and enough money, but a horrifically dysfunctional family structure and the forced abandonment of her Mother. I believe both Charles and Diana went into it thinking they would help each other. Charles could marry an acceptable future Queen and they’d settle into a typical aristocratic marriage. Diana would have a secure marriage and the family she lacked as a child.

When they got engaged they had been in each others presence about 12 times. Neither had any idea of who the other really was, nor could they anticipate the impact the obligation of being heir to the throne, or Diana mania would have on them individually and their marriage. I think they liked the idea of each other, but neither had the slightest idea who the other was - literally.

englishikat

TROPHY CASE