Today I got a warning (a threat?), a message of doom, one that I wasn’t expecting and that I certainly didn’t have time for this week: “Your computer is low on memory.” You’re full! All full! That’s it! No more! None of my applications would run, and I couldn’t even run a web browser. Instantly I knew the culprit, and had only myself to blame: photos. Had to be the photos. I take so many photos, and keep them all. I have thousands upon thousands of photos.
My Phone has all my daily life photos, trips, screen shots of recipes and great home decor and clothing, plus a few hundred (thousand) pics of my cats. But My Computer is what I use for work: graphic design, designing needlework, education, articles, research, etc. It is where I have thousands of photos of thread.
Spools of Kreinik Blending Filament in (left to right) 012L holographic purple, 012C purple cord, 012 basic purple. Use Blending Filament as a carry-along thread (with your cotton floss or wool thread) to add the lightest metallic effect. It is super soft, meant to give just a hint of shimmer. Washable and dry cleanable. More colors here: http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Blending-Filament.html
Now before I sound like an obsessive-compulsive stitcher (takes one to know one!), understand that one of my professional tasks in life is to teach people about Kreinik threads. This includes probably my most popular line of posts on Kreinik’s social media pages (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Pinterest): Your Daily Thread. I post an image of a spool, a baby thread, pre-use, waiting to be transformed via stitches, ready to visualize your thoughts, and usually in a gorgeous color.
These gorgeous, rich shades of purple are in the form of Kreinik Braid. This brilliant thread is meant to be used alone (not used as a carry-along) to add a bolder metallic look to a design. Washable, dry cleanable, available in several sizes to suit different counts of fabric/canvas and different stitches. From http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Metallic-Threads/
My thread photos are meant to inspire stitchers in their own design work and project creations, plus show the wonderful variety of fibers we have at our fingertips. Quite often, however, based on the comments I get, the Your Daily Thread photos are just pure eye candy. Color, regardless of it’s form, evokes emotions and sometimes drool. Just go with it. It’s how we are programmed as humans if we are blessed with sight. Some days just seeing something green refreshes your mind, seeing something orange makes you want to eat healthy, or seeing something blue calms you down.
These purple shades are so rich, so regal…and they are featured here in silk thread form. Silk is a natural fiber that takes dyes to the deepest cellular level; that’s how you get richer colors than you get with cotton floss (which doesn’t take dyes as deeply). Silk is soft as butter, too, just dreamy to use in stitching. Try it for something different; it really isn’t that much more expensive, and it’s not fragile or hard to use. From http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Silk-Mori-2.5m-Skeins.html
In starting to clean out my thousands of thread photos, I zero’d in on some beauties to share with you today. Sometimes we just need to look at something simple like a spool of thread to jump-start our creativity, or take a scenic break in the drudgery of the day. Enjoy. Today is Purple Thread Day.
needlepoint, Japanese embroidery, and Hardanger, to name a few techniques. From http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Silk-Serica.html” width=”600″ height=”428″ /> These plum-y, purple-y, pretty spools are Kreinik Silk Serica, which is similar to pearl cotton, except 100% pure silk. Often used for needlepoint, Japanese embroidery, and Hardanger, to name a few techniques. From http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Silk-Serica.html
(Spend some time at www.kreinik.com to view many more threads, in hundreds of colors. Then join in the fun on Facebook or Twitter.) What’s your favorite color? Maybe it will be my next Your Daily Thread feature.
I took this photo at the Kreinik thread factory, so it shows a purple blend being made on the Kreinik machines. Don’t you love this gorgeous black and purple mix? It’s like night-time and outer space and fine wine mixed all together, in a fiber.Another photo from the Kreinik thread factory, showing purple spools of Tapestry #12 Braid (a popular thread for needlepoint) ready to be shipped to stores. Purple looks good next to gray, doesn’t it?Beautiful silk floss in purple, eggplant, and dusty lavender shades. They feel very spring-like, but I can see them in vineyard designs, royal-themed projects, dragon or fantasy motifs… Spot the colors here: http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Silk-Mori-2.5m-Skeins.htmlI love this photo, taken at the Kreinik thread factory, because it shows some of the variegated colors they make. It comes from an old thread display, but I believe all but the color on the far right are still produced.Sometimes dark is better. This is color 026 Amethyst in Kreinik Blending Filament. This deep, rich shade is one of nature’s beauties, often found in bugs. Supernatural beauties too, I bet… From http://www.kreinik.com/shops/Blending-Filament.htmlPurple reigns. So many shades, so many possibilities. These are all Kreinik metallic threads, my favorites for a few reasons: 1. the great color selection, 2. the quality. When you are playing with threads, threading your needle, needling with fibers, always, always use the best quality. You will not regret it.
Tessa Perlow is an embroidery artist who combines repurposed textiles with hand embroidery and beading. Her work focuses on themes of magic, nature, and love.
Elisabeth Bucht is a Swedish fibre artist whose work includes impressive textile-based street art and artwork exploring themes of human life and mental health.
