White Santa and a little history



Who's watching who?

 I've been house/cat sitting at my daughter's home while she is in India. She lives about 10 minutes from me so it's easy to go back and forth between houses. It's been lonely though and I am so thankful for having the time to pursue all my favorite past times. Excuse me a moment while I brew a fresh pot o-Buckery and toast a bagel. (I could live on bread alone even though there are wise people out there that say otherwise.) Oh, and remove this curious kitty from my lap.

I haven't ventured very far away from either house in a week and have another week of "time to myself" to go. This type of reclusive lifestyle allows me to indulge and I've been stitching up a storm, surfing the net and looking out the window. I also made a turkey pot pie, mmmmmmmm! Just for me!

One day back at my house and feeling industrious I decided I should tidy up my stash room.  While sorting through my queue drawers I came across this canvas and stitch guide all kitted up and ready to go.  It's a nutcracker called White Santa, an awesome project I purchased some time ago. There is a little history with this piece as I first saw it stitched about 15 years or so ago and have coveted it ever since. Imagine the thrill when coming across it at my LNS.

I saw it stitched by a master stitcher and one of my favorite people of all time. Her name was Katherine (Kay) and she didn't begin needlepointing until she retired from the NYC School District at age 65. I met her when she was around 80 years young, highly active in AAUW and living with her 90 year old sister in South Carolina. Neither girl ever married, no doubt a contributing factor to their longevity and freedom to pursue their numerous interests unencumbered. Both of these fabulous women lived into their 100's and have since passed. I was very fortunate to enjoy the company of both brilliant woman for 10 years and am forever grateful our paths crossed. One day Kay gathered a huge bouquet of gardenias from her back yard and presented it to me; I carried it from room to room enjoying the fragrance for days.

White Santa is a canvas by designer Damarj whose painted canvases were often accompanied by thread and stitch guides created by Susan Portra, as is White Santa. My personal experience is that these painted canvases and guides are not that easy to find though you still run across them from time to time.  But if you do happen upon one you'll see they're beautifully painted.

When the stitch guide was created in 1990 there wasn't a vast variety of threads available and much of White Santa was to be stitched in floss. I have made my own substitutions.  Because the majority of this project is stitched in all white threads, Ms. Portra wisely begins with the face and from then on guides us to stitch from top to bottom to keep the stitched thread pristine.

This first photo is of the stitched face minus the mustache. I used Mandarin Floss, 5-ply in basketweave whenever possible. The eyebrows are french knots. The nose is padded with perle coton and then stitched over vertically with more floss and back-stitched.

In the next photo you can see the padding process for  Santa's hair using diagonal rows of perle coton then overstitched in the opposite direction with 2-ply stranded wool (I had a hank of Medici on hand). I am saving the mustache for last because it calls for a large bullion stitch and I need to practice first.

Santa's cap is first outlined in gold Neon Rays and then stitched in the Byzantine stitch using white floss, and then white Neon Rays for the tent stitches. The gold stars are Balger Braid #8.

Next up: the bodice, sleeves and bell.