TAST 3&4 - Beyond TAST 3&4 - 2021

 Here is my TAST practice piece after adding TAST 3 & 4 (Buttonhole stitch,Reversed Buttonhole bar)   Beyond TAST 3 &4 (Reversed Buttonhole Bar,Portuguese Stem Stitch).

TAST 2 - 2021 - Fly Stitch & Italian Border Stitch

My TAST & Beyond TAST practice piece sampler after adding Fly Stitch and Italian Border Stitch

TAST 1 - 2021 - Chain Stitch & Linked Chain Stitch

 I did not intend to do TAST this year, as the  entire 2020 was spent focusing completely on TAST stitching.  However, I realised , I have already forgotten some of the TAST stitches I learnt.  I understood a revision of these stitches is mandatory  to memorise them with my 40+ year old brain.  At the same time, I want to keep this TAST practice a simple task, just spending under 30 minutes per week.  I am not following any set pattern.  The colors and placement of stitches are going to be random 

Here is my practice piece after TAST 1.

TAST 48 & Beyond TAST 48

 TAST 48 - Rice Stitch

  Its time to say good bye to TAST 2020  as this stitch is the last one .  TAST 2020 played a major role in uplifting me during Covid - 19 lock downs.  Looking at the  TAST stitches on Tuesday mornings, was a ritual I enjoyed thoroughly this year.

My sincere thanks to Sharon Boggon of PinTangle for hosting TAST 2020. 

Rice stitch is mainly a canvas stitch.  Two different variations of the Rice Stitch has been worked in the below sample.   I tried adding some beads as well.

BEYOND TAST 48 - Woven Trellis Stitch

This stitch makes beautiful flowers , especially while using thicker threads like Perl 5. The white flower is done with Perl cotton and  the dark pink flower is made using all 6 strands of the embroidery floss.  

TAST 47 & Beyond TAST 47

 TAST 47 - Triangular Buttonhole Stitch & Beaded Triangular buttonhole stitch 

A new stitch to me , both the stitches were fun and easy to explore.  As the name suggests, these two stitches are based on the buttonhole stitch.

The beads could be added to any of the slant stitches , or even to all the slants and the base.

                                              

BEYOND TAST 47 -  FEATHERED UP AND DOWN BUTTONHOLE

This too was a new stitch and fun to try out.  As the name suggests, this stitch is based on both the Feather stitch and Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch.  This stitch is much suitable for creating floral sprays .  

                                                

TAST 46 & Beyond TAST 46

 TAST 46 - Shell Chain and Beaded Shell Chain

This is a new stitch to me.  I tried this stitch with Perl cotton threads.  The beaded version of this stitch is quite appealing to me.

Beyond TAST 46 - Threaded Cable Chain Stitch.

This is a such a fun stitch.  Initially, a foundation of Cable Chain stitch is stitched and then it is threaded in the next step.  With a uniform stitch tension while threading, this stitch would look even better.

TAST 45 & BEYOND TAST 45

 TAST 45 - RAISED CROSS STITCH FLOWER

This is a new stitch to practice.  Such an easy and beautiful flower stitch.   I tried doing this with Perle #5 ,6 strands of anchor embroidery floss and also with  2mm and 4 mm silk ribbons .  As the name suggests, this is a raised stitch and has a texture .

                                                    

BEYOND TAST 45 - Closed Base Woven Picot & Open Base Woven Picot

I have admired this stitch before but this is the first time I tried to stitch.  I wanted to stitch a beautiful sun flower with dark and light shades of yellow color of all the 6 strands of the  floss.  I set out to draw a big sun flower and started with this stitch with much anticipation.   I was able to create only  a narrow and ugly set of petals with this woven picot stitches.  This ugly petals then gave me the freedom to try out each petal with different thread - I have used perle #5, tatting thread, 6 strand embroidery floss and crochet cotton thread (whatever was available in my stash) 

 I should have drawn the petals in a much smaller size.  Though my hands were itching, to cut all the petals and restart from drawing a small sun flower, I decided against it.  This sample will surely keep reminding me to draw small flowers while using this stitch in my future projects.