Swimming with Mermaids Again!

That is wishful thinking! It is finally cool in Austin - too cool for mermaids, and no clear blue/green water here anyway. But the mermaid puts me in a fine frame of mind, as her colors are beautiful to work with.


Some progress has been made - but needlepoint is slow, and this is on 18 mesh canvas, which is my preference. Gail put the beads on, and they furnish enough sparkle - like little colorful droplets of water - so I don't think she needs anything else sparkly. Instead, I have chosen to use Ribbon Floss for shine, as on her scales. The patterned green areas were stitched with Splendor silk for the grid, and Neon Rays for the Scotch stitch, as it has a lovely shine.


I put "bump" stitches on her mermaid "dress" to differentiate texture between that and the green areas. The close-up illustrates the little smyrna crosses I like to use on this sort of design, as it gives a bit of extra texture without overwhelming the whole picture.

The lines point to the "bumps" and to the areas where there are configurations of four stitches square - perfect for inserting Smyrnas. I haven't figured out how to put arrows where I want them, so these lines also point to her "shells" and her yellow hair. Disregard that, and look at the other end of the line.

This canvas is so pretty in it's entirety as a two dimensional painting, it's almost a shame to use it as a rollie - but the rollie will look sooo fine on a stand, as does the peacock! (see this on Gail's blog) Also, for another treat, see her web page here!