While in England DMC contacted me about doing a project for their booth at various trade shows. When I arrived home there was a huge box awaiting me filled to the brim with every thread they manufacture. They also sent me a birdcage to create a fairy scene inside.
I had met Mr. Davies last year at the Knitting & Stitching Show in London and purchased his magical book on knotted gardens. I decided that was what I would do for the floor of the cage. Yes. I was out of my mind! 45 working hours later I decided to make a few changes.
My idea was to do cross-stitch, as shown with the black and white threads, a pond using seed stitch, then flowers using French knots. I also started creating a path using a different stitch and woven leaves. The photo to the right had taken me 45 hours. So, I decided to knit some "grass" and use my embellisher (felting machine) to "grass" it up. You can see the knitted piece before felting on the upper left side.
If you click on any of the photo's they'll take you to a larger image.
On the left is the knitted piece being "felted". I find it helpful to felt on one side, then flip it over and felt on the wrong side.
This helps create the more grassy effect. I also had to be careful to not catch my leaves. I used a piece of tape to tape them towards the checkered walkway.
After the grass was finished I started more French knots for flowers. I used various threads from the magic box DMC had sent. And the little curled up bits along the one path are made from DMC's Memory Thread. This is beautiful threads wrapped around wire so you can shape it in any way you want.
Because the knotted garden was taking even more time I decided to create a more fairyish scene by throwing down some Angelina along with the wool threads from DMC and felting them. The tapestry I was working on is a 16 count linen, also in the box.
It was now time to create the fairy that would reside in the garden. I actually made 3 fairies, but ran out of time to complete them all. I'll finish them after Christmas and take them to the CHA show in January and place them in the garden.
To create the fairy I reduced my "Leona" pattern by 30%. Leona is normally 10-inches tall. This reduced her down to 5 1/2-inches. I had learned how to make fairy wings with Angelina and Angelina film from Rosemary Hernandez at the local doll club's Doll Camp. Her sleeves and skirt were made from DMC's metallic threads. Like a dummy I didn't take a photo of her before I placed her in the cage so didn't get many close-ups of her. In her left hand she's holding a flower she's going to plant in the garden.
Even though she's too big for the garden, she still looks pretty cute. She's actually one of the fairies that is planting the garden for the wee fairy folk, who are much smaller than the garden fairies.
I created a few vines by wrapping some wire with DMC pearl cotton. I added flowers I made with their wool thead. You can see the vines in the photo taken from the opening in the top of the cage.
Now you know what I've been doing for the past two weeks. John has been wonderful. He's brought home dinner several nights so I could continue working. I averaged 16 hours a day. I did take Thanksgiving Day off until later in the evening. And, Sunday's I only worked for a few hours in the afternoons and another two hours in the evening after church.
This was a fun project to work on and whenever you see DMC at any shows be sure to stop by and visit. Don't forget, two more fairies will join in planting the garden. Someday.
