TAST #104 and #105 Buttonholed Cable Chain and Alternating BCC

Finally I have made some progress on the TAST front.
#104 is called Buttonholed Cable Chain and consists of a base stitch of Cable Chain onto whose chains buttonhole stitches have been worked. Do you follow?
They are here seen in blue.

#105 is the same stitch but the buttonholes are only worked on one alternating side of the chain, so it is appropriately called Alternating Cable Chain. Here they are worked in red.

A bead would fit beautifully on the link, so I expect one day there will be a Beaded Buttonholed Cable Chain...Let's just wait and see what Sharon says..
If you want to learn this stitch or any of the other 103 TAST stitches head over to Sharon's Pintangle.

WIPW - Two Stitches Combined

If you have needlework projects that progress too slowly, why not join in the Work In Progress Wednesday challenge? You write a bit on your blog about what you have achieved, then leave a comment on Sharon's Pintangle for everyone to see. The pressure of publicity!

Since returning home from my break, my Work In Progress has been on getting MYSELF and the household settled; I have only had energy and time to put in some stitches on the

Swedish Cushion

Here I couched (TAST stitch #9) a turquoise viscose chainette from Oliver Twist with #15 French Knots in Ravenna, a rayon thread from the Kyoto based thread manufacturer Art Fibre Endo.

I hope to have much more Work In Progress to show next Wednesday.

Let the Needle Do the Work

Free form embroidery, or 'Let the Needle Do the Work' is a wonderful activity. You don't need to plan anything, follow any pattern, rip out any stitches or feel frustrated. It is the ultimate relaxation!

Last year I took Sharon Boggon's Sumptuous Surface Embroidery online class and enjoyed it immensely. It was the season of cherry blossoming and the petals 'fell onto the fabric':

Now while I went 'off-line' and had to leave TAST and WIPW projects at home, I packed a small bag of even weave fabric, a set of Oliver Twist pink and green various threads, a skein of Silky from  De Haviland Embroidery and a variegated #5 perle from Steff Francis, and decided to just play.
The result was this piece of abstract art, and I just HAD to add a few dancing cherry petals!

I had no TAST, or other stitch dictionary, just the list in my head and I simply piled the stitches on, layer after layer - a tonic for the mind!

In a Whirlwind ...

Dear Friends,

I return to the land of online connection and blogging in a whirlwind of cherry flower petals.

 Among the back streets of Tokyo there are quiet temples,

 mature trees with impressively healthy growth of new flowers, directly from the trunk.

Some petals 'fell' on a piece of embroidery I did while away.

This is now being damp-stretched and I will blog about it when it has been mounted and is fit to face the camera.
I am lagging behind TAST and need to get those WIPW projects out of the closet...

Hope to be in touch again soon.