Mini Mystery Monday #5, part 3

Well, here we are half-way through February. Can you believe how swiftly the year is moving? Yikes, before you turn around it will be spring and time to pull out those springy projects. (Or maybe like me, you've already started working on some springtime pieces, just because the weather has been so spring-like and not at ALL like winter.)

So.... are you ready to finish this little design? It's an easy one to whip up isn't it? Wait until you see the next few layers I've created for you!

Here's the graph for the next layer of "soft" metallic stitches. Use whichever secondary metallic you've chosen (it may be a different type of metallic entirely or perhaps just a different color - that's up to your unique color and thread palette) and follow this graph:

You're going to be adding some Rhodes Squares that fill up those blank square areas, so work your squares like this:

Although it has just occurred to me, as I write this, that you could fill your blank squares with EYELETS, so you'd have a hole in the middle. And then you add a few beads in this design. Does that interest you? Then work your squares with these type of eyelets:

Sometimes I find it easier when working with the flat metallic ribbons to work my eyelets by going in EVERY OTHER HOLE first. That way I can gauge if there's enough thread coverage of the canvas... and then if I want more stitches, I go around again in the remaining holes. Working this way also "spreads out" or layers the threads in a more symmetrical fashion so the ribbon doesn't bunch up in the hole.

NOTE: You may also need to enlarge the eyelet hole with your needle, so there's room for all the stitches you put down into that center hole. And voila! You have eyelets in your piece.... which allows you to add whatever size or kind of bead you want to embellish your piece with.

At this point, your Mini Mystery #5 can be considered finished.  Here's what my first piece looked like:

And I was very pleased with my serene blue and aqua ornament.

But then  I got to wondering what this design would look like on another color of canvas. Because I was starting to feel a bit of spring fever, I decided to stitch a second piece using white #5 pearl cotton and pale metallic ribbons on Rose Blush (pale pink) 18 ct. canvas.  Here's what it ended up looking like:

But even after I finished the pink model, I wondered what would happen if I added yet another type of metallic thread as a subtle accent color.  This time I chose a finer metallic -- Nordic Gold ND12 -- and followed this graph (which adds an additional layer of stitches to the previous graphs):

And here's how my final pink piece ended up:

So you see, this simple little design has LOTS of potential for multiple versions, colors, and thread choices.  Go ahead and play around with this one.... I hope you enjoy working up a few of your own combinations... and in the meantime I'll be playing with even more threads and stitches to make the next Mini Mystery... 

See you next time, Mystery stitchers!

P.S. & Update.: For those of you curious about the blue & aqua threads I used in the top photo, I used a thread I dyed myself that's very similar to Watercolours 019 "Tropic Seas" with two YLI Ribbon Flosses - 144-009 (ice blue) and 148-045 (aqua/opal). Again, please try any other thread or color combinations that you have in your stash... this is a really good design to play around with!