OhSewCrafty Blog

• Pattern: Lavender & Lace (Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum), cape conversion by Nathalie G, color conversion by moi
• Materials: 28 count pearl grey Cashel linen by Zweigart, DMC, Kreinik, wool/cashmere yarn ply, Mill Hill beads
• Size: 11.4″ x 17″
• Time to stitch: 28 days since January 29, 2019

Presenting my last (probably) Celtic lady, Celtic Winter, extensively converted!

The pattern is fine, but the original colors (white & gold) did not say “winter” to me, and I felt that the winter lady would not be walking about in just a dress, she needed some outerwear, hence the cape.  The cape chart was created by Nathalie G and is available to download, it is like an overlay that goes on top of the original pattern.  I choose my own colors for the cape and used Nathalie’s colors for the dress.  I created a bead conversion and chose my own specialty fibers, more about that below.  I found it necessary to rechart her head/hair a little because in the pattern she’s wearing a circlet on her head and that doesn’t make sense with the cape hood.  I chose blonde tones for the hair as well.  Basically this pattern is extensively converted, and yes, there was frogging, significant frogging, especially when I got to the medallion section.  The colors used in her dress and cape did not necessarily work in the medallions, as lines of single stitches, or on their own.  Another modification I made was backstitching the outlines of the letters (negative space) to make them more legible.  

I opted to use pearl grey Cashel, 28 count; that count works best considering the beading IMO.  I like a solid color, or at least a subtle background, for the Celtic ladies.  As for fibers, I opted to use Kreinik #4 001 HL (high luster silver) for the metallic since I had some in my stash and more sparkle is always a good thing.  The pattern calls for white Wisper thread, which I dislike using and couldn’t locate in my stash, anyway.  In desperation, I noticed the wool/cashmere sportweight yarn I had used for my last knitting project, on my desk. It was 3 plies, loosely spun.  I separated the plies and found that one ply was only a bit plumper than 2 strands of DMC floss. It was wonderfully soft, fluffy and delicate, but significantly sturdier compared to Wisper, which is made from mohair & nylon.  

My favorite part of the project is how customized it is.  These are my colors, my fibers, my idea of winter with the blue, white, silver, wool, cashmere, and all the sparkle. I love how the beads worked out; I used Mill Hill 00479 (white), 2022 (dark silver), 10061 (magnifica silver fox), and 3062 (blue velvet).  Her blonde hair pops against the deep blue hooded cape.  And I love the fuzzy cape trim & muff, with wool/cashmere yarn-thread.  The last thing I did was backstitch the letter outlines with the silver Kreinik.  I wanted to increase the legibility, but in a subtle way.  I tested navy kreinik too and decided silver was just the ticket.  

She is my fourth Lady, only Summer is missing and I probably won’t stitch Summer as it’s my least favorite season.  I started Celtic Winter only to complete my collection, but by the end she may be my favorite Lady because she is so personalized.

….Oh dear, there are two stitches missing, can you spot them?  I’ll fix it later.

P.S. My color conversion is available from the L&L Celtic Ladies Conversion group on FB.