[HNW] icky blackwork

[Carolyn Kayta Barrows]

I'm back to feeling inept again.  The tatting cotton arches over the 
surface of my linen in big flabby loops, and looks skimpy next to the 
sample I did in #12 perle cotton.  Then I tried some #20 crochet cotton, 
and aside from the fact that off-white was all I had, the stitching looks 
unuseably bad here too.  The ends of the stitches don't match up even if 
the threads are coming and going in the same holes, and what should be 
straight lines aren't anything like straight or continuous.

I'm feeling really frustrated that I can't make this work, and I really 
have no idea what to do next.

OK.  What count of linen and size of thread and needle should I be using to 
make this work?  How many threads should I be counting for each 
stitch?  Must I use an embroidery hoop or frame?  What's the trick for 
using waste canvas, such that the stitches line up neatly when it is pulled 
out?

        CarolynKayta Barrows
dollmaker, fibre artist, textillian
          www.FunStuft.com

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