Day 11: The dreaded Elizabethan Plaited Braid Stitch

At home today I'd have been taking Niamh to JEMS. I hope she had a good time.

We began our day working the gold work on the pea. This was the warm up to the main task of the day - Elizabethan plaited braid stitch. The pea proved quite difficult. I actually cut my first attempt  out - a rare thing for me. The problem, I decided, was that the linen ( woven to Phillipa's specifications on original Elizabethan looms using flax uncontaminated by pollution or chemicals) was very soft, and pulling hard to shape the goldwork stitches pulled threads on the linen.

My second attempt was passable, but by no means perfect.

In the afternoon, most retreaters went to the Shakespeare Trust for a lecture on Corsets and Codpieces. All agreed it was very interesting - and fun. Both garments, it seems, were designed primarily as fashion accessories rather than protection and changed shape to fit with fashion aesthetics.

I stayed behind to work on my plaited braid stitch. I found it much easier than the earlier needlelace. The instructions in Kate Barlow's booklet were very clear and helpful.

My braid is not even and I acquired a twist in it at one point but I am pleased with it. I got the stitch right. As I progressed I discovered it lo.oked better a little larger than the design lines so it varies a bit.

My ort pot filled up



I worked on it pretty much until dinner at 7. I finished one plaited braid loop and all the blackwork. I have two leaves to outline in silk stem stitch and the rest is plaited braid. I'm pretty confident I can now finish it before I leave Stratford on 18 March.

I'm thinking  of turning it into a pouch to hold my gold work tools.

This evening's meal was leisurely and relaxed. We are all a bit tired and most people thinking of their homeward travel. It was again a lovely meal. I couldn't resist a photo of my desert - a rhubarb icecream and sorbet. The biscuit-like thing on the icecream is a wafer-thin slice of candied rhubarb .

Tomorrow is a bit of a free choice.  I'm hoping to spend half a day on a Phillipa project and perhaps progress Nicola's beyond the beads and sequins. It could, however, go somewhere else altogether.

Day 10: Stitching, stitching.

There were very few takers for breakfast at 7.30 this morning. Most people drifted in after 8.00, perhaps worn out by our night at the theatre.

It was a bright sunny day in Stratford-on-Avon. It looked great from inside the hotel. Outside, though sunny, it was cold.

This didn't much matter, because we were stitching inside all day today - the best of both worlds, cosy and warm, looking out on sunshine.

Our group made good progress on the Blackwork in the morning, working a range of stitches and beginning the outlines.

After our coffee break we began the first of the gold work.

Like Nicola's project, Kate Barlow's is really well designed for the teaching time. There is a variety of stitches and techniques, all on an achievable scale so a stitcher has a continuing sense of achievement. The project grows quickly. I realise some like projects that are larger and require a lot of ongoing work after a class, but I very much want to get close to seeing the finished thing. This one is really doing it for me.

I have been meaning for days to go out and photograph the lamppost opposite the hotel. Melody told me about it on the day we arrived. I could see it from the dining room but did not realise for several days that it was the one Melody was looking for. Today I finally walked across the road with Melody and Genevieve to have a closer look.

There are three bronze figures - the owl from the Owl and the Pussycat, the Fiddler on the Roof and Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream.


The sun was not in the best position for photographing it, so I might try for some better shots early in the morning.

The lamppost was a gift to Stratford from the Israeli Government. The owl oversees the scene from the top.




























NickBottom sits on one side, playing what appears to be a lute and singing, seemingly unaware he has the head of a donkey.


On the other side of the lamp is a Jewish fiddler - fiddling on the roof .






Stratford has many lampposts donated by various organisations and countries. None I have seen are as elaborate as this, but I will perhaps go looking for others next week.



In the afternoon we did the needle lace strawberry. I was pretty pleased with mine The first row should have been tighter, but other than that it came out well.







This is where I was at the end of the day.

I was feeling very tired again this evening, a combination of the theatre, a later night than usual last night and a full, concentrated day of stitching.

Before dinner Prof Richard McGregor interviewed our five tutors (Jenny Adin-Christie is on her way to Australia/NZ) about their entry into embroidery and their lives as professional embroiderers. Richard is very good at this and there was much lively discussion and interaction. Most had begun their post-school lives in an area other than embroidery and found their way there through an encounter or idea. The Royal School of Needlework had played a significant role in  the lives of three of them.

For all of them, the hardest thing related to the stress of having to turn time into money. What they can be paid for does not cover the hours of preparation and conceptualisation that goes into a product.

It was a most stimulating session and the conversations it provoked went on for hours through and after dinner. A fabulous day - great stitching and stimulating conversations with like-minded people.
Deo Gratias.

Day 9: Blackwork and King John

Today's post is a bit short. This is because it is the first day of our second project, and my concentration was on my stitching until we finished at 4.15pm. Our evening meal was at 5pm so we could be at the Theatre for King John at 7.30.  This left little time for blogging.

Our room for this project is not as pleasant as Nicola's room but we have excellent lamps and plenty of room to move. It is a small, pleasant group and Kate Barlow is an attentive and well organised teacher.



The kit is lovely and the instruction booklet very clear, supplemented by a large, clear and detailed diagram.

We began on the Blackwork. The linen is 32 count which I don't usually work, but it was lovely to work with and fine with magnification and light.

There is much hilarity about the Australian toilet paper crisis. During this afternoon's session I received an email from the CEO of Woolworths explaining how hard Woolworths and their suppliers are working to replenish supplies of toilet paper. It seems it's a boom for a couple of rural towns, with the Kleenex factory in Millicent working 24 hours a day 7 days a week to meet demand. My fellow retreaters are offering to fill my suitcase with toilet paper to help out.

The world really seems to be off-kilter.

We had pre-theatre dinner at 5pm, I only 4 hours after our very substantial lunch - so we can be at the Theatre just after 7pm.  It's a 2 minute walk from our hotel. There was a lot of atmosphere and anticipation in the foyer.

We had very good seats. It was fairly full - though not a sellout house.

I thought it was an excellent production, directed by Eleanor Rhode, with King John played by Rosie Sheehy.

There is a food fight in the first half which takes most of interval time clean up.

I was not familiar with the play, but neither Shakespeare nor the production disappointed. I liked the modern costumes and sets carrying the words of Shakespeare, The stylisation of costume and use of dance movement carried the message of power, corruption and self-interest as universal. It left me, at least, feeling strengthened even in the face of such evil - a far cry from the impact of reading news reports every day and emails explaining shortages.

I'm very glad I went and grateful to Phillipa for thinking to organise it.

Our world seems less awry - or no more so than other times- after the play.

Day 8: Excursions

Today we split into groups for visits. A few stayed behind to stitch. I went with a group to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Anne Hathaway's Cottage.

At the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Shakespeare Centre in Henley Street the textile curators had selected seven items for us to look at. There was a Bible with embroidered cover, a psalter, a man's cap, three coifs and a woman's court jacket, all dating between 1600 and 1630.  All were exquisite. While I have photos for my own study, they are not for publication.

We were fortunate to have with us Sarah Thursfield and Jessica Grimm, both with enormous expertise in textiles and clothing of this era. They commented on the pieces. Their interaction with the curators provided a rich and privileged experience for us. I will be happy to talk in more detail to interested members of the Embroiderers' Guild of SA.


The views from the windows of the Shakespeare Centre were in themselves worth going for. I love the landscapes of sky, cloud, brick and trees.











At this time of year the trees are sculptural skeletons. We didn't get to see this courtyard close-up but it looked interesting from above.




I find rooftops and chimneys in England irresistible.


These were all taken from the windows of the room in which we examined the embroideries.

































Next door to the Shakespeare Centre is the Moorcroft Centre with it's window that enticed quite a few of our group inside.

They were discouraged, however, by the reminder outside of human folly.





Taxis took us from here to Anne Hathaway's Cottage, where Spring is in the air.


















I didn't take the tour inside the cottage, preferring to explore the grounds and, of course, the shop.


The cottage is much as I remember it.  It was, I think, January 1985 that I was last here, but I  presume it has not much changed.























I don't, however remember this structure in the garden. It certainly didn't play recitals of the Sonnets as it does now.


We returned to our hotel for lunch, after which some went on to Shakespeare's New Place, which is a stone's throw from our hotel. I chose to do more work on my Midsummer Pillowe. I have some time next week to catch up on things I might have missed in Stratford.


I spent most of the afternoon stitching in the company of a few others - mostly also working on the Midsummer Pillowe.





I finished Oberon and made good progress on Titania. Tomorrow we start on our second project, and I will struggle to work on this much further.


Before dinner Laura made a presentation about the Appleby Festival and St Andrew's Retreat next year. Much excitement in the group and food for thought. I'm not sure what I want/will be able to do.


Two of our number have been called away because of deaths in their immediate families in the last 24 hours. Our sympathies are with them both. It was a sobering note on what was otherwise, for most of us, an interesting and thought-provoking day. A blog post does not capture the interactions and empathy that is generated in the company of like-minded people.

Day 7: Final Day of Midsummer Pillowe

This morning was Grey and overcast yet the light was quite good in our stitching room and the landscape outside very clearly defined.



The brickwork on the Theatre seemed particularly well defined.

Even through the lead-lighted windows in our stitching room it looked terrific.There are (what I assume to be) CCT cameras in the oddest places.





















We had a great day of stitching. Nicola's design is a pleasure to stitch. It uses varied techniques, interesting threads and you can complete small sections and see an immediate result. There were periods of silent concentration and times of talk. We have known each other now over several years and there is a level of trust.  We are privileged to have found people from all over the world who share our quite narrow interests.







We concentrated on the butterfly "Puck". I was able to finish - mine. That's one of the clever things about the design - it is possible to finish a complete element in a day.

Photos don't do justice to the three-dimensional impact of the finished piece, nor do they convey the sparkle.

I haven't finished Oberon - but it is well advanced. I have more than half of the major butterfly, Titania, to do and the small figure in  the top left hand corner. I'd love to keep working on it. I think it will be finished before I board a plane home.






The buffet lunch was excellent again, and the evening meal delicious. The chef seems to get  proportions right.


Tutors had set up shops this afternoon in the hotel reception area. I bought a Kate Barlow kit.



I also, with permission, offered some of the Guild's Ort Pot kits for sale. Last year I used one of my ort pots in class, and people asked for the pattern. I couldn't provide it, as it is copyright and a fund-raising activity of the Guild. So this year, Gay Sanderson made up some kits and some Ort pots for me to bring to sell. I was planning to offer these to anyone who asked about mine, but Laura suggested I could sell them on the market evening. Sales amounted to 56. The kits sold out completely, since one woman who has to run a workshop for her US Guild in making these pots, bought my entire stock to save having to make the kits herself!



After the market and before dinner Phillipa introduced  Sarah Thursfield, author of The Medieval Taylor's Assistant. on Dress in the Age of Shakespeare. Sarah used portraits to analyse the elements of both men and women's clothing. I knew quite a bit of this from the research project on Tudor clothing I helped Brigid do five years ago.


Sarah stayed for dinner. She was an interesting speaker and it was a privilege to be able to talk to her over dinner.

Tomorrow is our excursion day. It should be good.