This month I will be stitching a beautiful Circle Kit from Linladan. If you would like to stitch along with me, there are more lovely kits in her store, including alternate color ways of this Circle kit!
Here is an image from Linladan, tantalizing small, of what my finished embroidery might look like:
Isn't it gorgeous? First off, I'd like to give you a tour of the kit, so you can see everything that comes inside...
A Look at the Kit
My kit came with a photo of the original Swedish kit from the 1960's that this is based on. On the left you see the stitched version, on the right, the drawing.
Tanja includes some history on the Circle Kit, with a list of some of the stitches used, as well as their Swedish names!
There's another list of stitches included, the screenprinted linen, and vintage linen floss.
About the Linen Threads
Linen floss has a very different texture than the cotton floss I am used to using. They are stiffer, sort of the texture of unwaxed tooth floss, if anybody here remembers that! :)
Linen floss has a gorgeous sheen that lends itself really well to couching and satin stitch.
I was so excited to get stitching with these new threads! I began with the darker teal - the name on this label says "Marks Linda Garn." It's about the weight of a size 12 pearl cotton, for comparison.
After finding where the threads were tied together under the label, I clipped that, and was able to use this as a pull skein.
Some skeins worked better than others as pull skeins. That could just be user error - pulling the wrong thread, I ended up with a tangled mess on 2 skeins! :)
All the threads in this kit had the same weight, except for the bright yellow skein:
This label says 40/2, the others say 16/2, which I'm sure has something to do with the thread weight? It felt to me like between 1-2 strands of cotton floss. It felt softer, and produced a much smoother satin stitch.
I cleaned up my tangled thread mess on the teal and yellow skeins by winding them on wooden spools...
But I left some of the threads in the labels, because I think they're so nice looking. :)
Here is my photo to compare thread weights on the thinner (yellow) and thicker (teal) thread... but they look the same don't they? Trust me, the skein marked 40/2 is much thinner!
Here's another skein that functioned just fine as a pull skein. I'm fascinated by the different Swedish names, but have no clue what they mean.
This is the full palette I am stitching with so far - I am using 1 DMC floss shade - that lightest teal - DMC 504, to add some contrast. Those 2 beige-ish skeins are so close in color that I will use them interchangeably, and I doubt anyone could tell them apart against the brown background.
I'm doing a lot of couching with these threads - it shows up their sheen so well! Knots work just fine. Stem stitch has a very organic quality to it because of the thick and thin qualities of the threads. Everything done in this thread looks nubbly, but I'm enjoying that look immensely!
On this yellow spoke, I used concentric lines of stem / outline stitch, with 1 strand of thread. I like the look of the brown fabric peeking through!
Here's my progress so far - I moved my stitching into a large 14 inch hoop I found on Ebay:
I am LOVING this project! It feels so distinct to anything I've embroidered yet - it's geometric, but vintage - I love the sharp lines and the organic quality of the materials.
Again, if you'd like to stitch along, I highly recommend a purchase from Linladan. If you'd just like to experiment with linen threads, she sells boxes of those, too!
Follow my progress on Instagram @nyfloresita!
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