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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Third Time's The Charm

I think I've finally got the hang of how to do a HAED. And it only took me my third start.

This is one of this year's freebie SALs on the HAED yuku board. I narrowed my list to two and then went with the one that looked like it had less confetti: Heather



I finished half a page; which I think is the most I've done on a HAED.


Heather
25ct Antique White Lugana

I resisted block-by-block stitching and parking because I thought that my usual way of cross country by colour in large patches would be fine. And it's a method that works very well for me. But not on HAEDs. Even using multiple highlighters I would miss stitches and it never seemed like I was making any progress which was disheartening. So I finally sucked up my pride, read up on how multiple HAED finishers do and it and went block by block with parking. Because this pattern has so much black I switched to column by column after the first column. I'm not sure if it's faster, but there's progress that I can see, and I want to keep going. That alone means that this method is clearly the only way I can do a HAED.

So the lesson for the day is: don't be too proud to try something new if your old method doesn't work. Yes, you may have to eat some silent crow, but at the end of the day it might just work out better :)

That said: I'm still sticking with my usual haphazard way for everything else!

12 comments:

Vickie said...

tee hee! Good for you, and a great tip for us. =)

Melissa said...

You're a braver girl than me. I haven't had the courage to start one yet. Looks great!

Kaisievic said...

Well, that is encouraging! I am struggling to get back to mine because of the confetti. Do you grid yours? I haven't and I am wondering if I should? So you do a ten by ten block and keep the threads parked? But I find if I do that as some of the colours are so similar that I forget which ones they are! aagghhh! Any words of encouragement and wisdom would be welcome!

Kittyperfection said...

I'm really glad you found something that works for you! I had a tough time at first with that too, until I gridded and parked ;)

Your stitching looks fab!!!! How many threads are you using? For tent stitching your stitches look amazing! :)

Lesleyanne said...

Great new start. Heather looks gorgeous.

Giovanna said...

Well done on the persistence - I have great admiration for anyone who attempts such complex designs.

Ziggyeor said...

Yes I'm wondering if I shouldn't change up my method on my Dragon piece. I've got nice sections of cave wall that are off. But there are so many colors I'm afraid I'll forget what it is I'm stitching with.

Annie said...

Good for you for sticking with it and figuring out what works for you! She's looking great so far. I'm betting you finish this one.

Melody said...

Great progress! Congrats on moving out of your comfort zone and finding something that works for you! Looks like it's working out well :)

Karoline said...

Great progress, it's looking lovely

Siobhán said...

Good for you for sticking with it and trying something new. I'm the type that sticks with something till the end, bumbling through like a bull in a china shop, wondering what I'm doing wrong. You go girl!

Anonymous said...

Your Heather looks very lovely =) Great work =)