Winter Threadventure Week 1: Helsinki, Finland

Are you ready for the 2019 Winter Threadventure through the Nordic countries? Me, too! We’re gonna have soooo much F-U-N! Hop aboard the Serendipity Express with me and let’s ride our magical virtual vacation train to our first stop, captivating Finland…

And here we are in Helsinki, the capital! (Gee, that was quick.)

Helsinki sits on the southern coast of Finland and is home to approximately 20% of the Finnish population. (Only 5.5 million people live in the entire country – and most of them in the southern portion.)

I’ll bet you’re wondering what we’re gonna explore here in Finland, aren’t you? I thought you might be.

The picture below (and the one up there) are your first clues.

And I’ll bet you already guessed “skies”…

Colorful sunrises and sunsets abound in Finland and that’s what we’ll delve into here on our first stop.

Days are reaaalllly short in the wintertime. Right now, in Helsinki, the sun rises around 9:15 in the morning and it sets a scant six hours later – about 3:30 p.m. EEK!

And the farther north you travel, the shorter the days get. Did you know that Lapland, the northernmost region of Finland, is in the Arctic Circle? There, the sun sets in late November and generally doesn’t rise until mid-January. That’s a LONG time!

Now that you have a little bit of background about the long polar nights in Finland…

Whaddya say we dive in and take a look at a terrific stitch for colorful sunrises and sunsets?

The slanted Beaty stitch is a terrific choice for sunrises and sunsets.

It’s super easy to execute – work the stitches in pairs, two short, two long, two short, two long, etc. –  just like you see in the diagram below and you’ll be golden!

Remember, a stitch diagram is like a little road map that you can use to guide you as you stitch. Each horizontal and vertical line represents a canvas thread. The numbers indicate the order in which you should execute the stitches, with odd numbers designating when you should bring your needle to the front of your canvas and even numbers determining when you should take your needle to the back of your canvas.

Now, back to the slanted Beaty stitch…
It’s easy peasy to compensate, so that makes it a “winner, winner chicken dinner” in my book. It’s a medium size stitch and that means you’ll need a fair amount of space on your canvas to establish the pattern. And it’s a terrific choice for beginning stitchers (or if you’ve been away from needlepoint for a while).

Slanted Beaty is a slightly directional stitch, depending upon which way you slant your stitches (either direction is perfectly acceptable!) – and it suggests a wee bit of movement.

I’m using Watercolours to work this stitch.

Watercolours is a hand-dyed divisible Pima cotton thread from the Caron Collection. It comes in a huge array of luscious colors and each skein holds 10 yards. Since it’s divisible, you can use it on both 13 and 18 mesh needlepoint canvas.
(NOTE: Do not count on this thread being color fast if it gets wet.)

I recommend stranding Watercolours so that it lays smoothly on your canvas.

What is stranding?

Terrific question! Stranding means to separate the strands of a divisible thread, and then put them back together again.

And when you’re working with an over-dyed thread, like Watercolours, match up the ends in the same order that you separated them so that the colors line up appropriately.

Here’s another tip for you, too…

and it applies to all over-dyed threads.

When you prepare to stitch with each subsequent length of thread that you cut, thread your needle on the opposite end of the cut you just made so the color runs remain in sequence. Be careful to avoid leaving long tails when starting or ending a thread, too, since that also affects the color repeat.

I’m using two strands of “Dawn” in a #22 tapestry needle to work my stitch sample on a piece of 13 mesh needlepoint canvas. If you want to practice the slanted Beaty stitch on a piece of 18 mesh canvas, thread one strand in your needle.

Use a laying tool to lay your threads smoothly on the surface of your canvas, if you’re working with more than one strand in your needle.

Alrighty – that brings us to the end of our first week Finland.

It’s been so much fun sharing this stitch/thread combo with you.

Let’s check into our cozy little cabin for the night and enjoy some stitching time around the fire…

But before you go, be sure and tell me where you might use the slanted Beaty stitch.

Do you have a particular project in mind?

(Don’t be shy…I  ❤️ hearing from you and I read every single comment!)

When you leave your thoughts down below in the comments box, I’ll enter your name into a drawing for a free Passenger Passport.

Wondering what a Passenger Passport is?

Well, it’s your ticket for full access to all of the goodies over inside the 2019 Winter Threadventure Passenger Portal.

I’m sharing at least 4 stitch and thread combinations each week + we have a weekly gathering inside the private Facebook group. All of the live sessions are recorded so you can watch them later (or re-watch them!) and you have lifetime access to everything!

If you’re already getting the full experience and I draw your name – well, you’ll get your next Threadventure for free!

Not sure what’s included with the full experience? Click here to find out more.

And it’s not too late to join us, either. Click here if you want to sign up. 

Alrighty – that’s all for now…

Until next week, happy stitching!
XOXO!!!

PS: I’ll share pictures of my stitched samples over on the Serendipity Needleworks Facebook page and on Instagram, so be sure and follow me there.

PPS: Are you on our Serendipity Needleworks NeedleNotes list? That’s where we share tips, ideas, events, and cheer each other on and I’d love to have you join me, so click here to subscribe. I’ll see you there! 😉

Ellen Johnson