A rose.....

These past couple of days I've been working on a special cross-stitch rose project...one of the March challenges at StitchMAP. I love roses...so doing this was a pure joy. This year, Shari is having a hexagon challenge each month...three challenges actually...because each month has three different designs/techniques/etc to choose from. You can do just one...or all three. I'm helping out with some of the challenges...like last month there were two designs from me...and one from Shari. There will be different designers each month. The cool thing about this rose is that it is all one color (which I wish was a bit darker than the light pink I chose).  

  It starts with some 2-ply full cross stitch work...  

Then, some 2-ply half cross stitch work...see the needle? It is pointing at a sloppy stitch...one that I pulled back out and separated those threads in. I need a trolly needle...one that fits on your finger. But, I use my regular needle and pull the threads through with my left hand after beginning the stitch. The work is so much neater when the plys are laying side-by-side and not all twisted up. I'm stitching on waste canvas...water soluble...by DMC...what smart folks to come up with that product!  

  And finishes with some 1-ply full cross stitch, and 1-ply half cross stitch...to get the unique shading effect. The rose is outlined in backstitch of a shade darker than the other work. Very challenging to keep things straight in my head while stitching! But, also very easy to follow along...I just had to take my time and 'think'! It looks like a bit of a jumbled mess close up...with the full stitches going in the opposite direction on top than the surrounding half stitches...  

but back a bit you see that they adds in the shading effect.