Well, friends, it's officially fall, which means it's almost hibernation season. It was downright windy and chilly last night, and I'm not happy about it. The only thing good about fall is the clothes. Well, and pumpkin spice bread. And boots. I wore my black boots on Friday for the first time since probably March, and it felt awesome.
It's also time to start living in leggings and big, warm sweatshirts on weekends with a mug of mulled cider (which reminds me...I need to get more mulling spices.....). I got a pair of leg warmers to help layer and keep me warm (don't you judge me - you know you want a pair...or five...), and oh my god do they work. As someone who suffers from some degree of joint and muscle pain daily, these things are amazing at keeping my legs warm and from cramping. They also may or may not make me sing, "FAME! I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER!" to myself while I'm wearing them.
That may or may not happen.
More importantly, fall means I stitch fall things, and this one in particular was incredibly fun to stitch.
HOW COOL IS THIS?????
OMG. The fabric....just....I can't.
THAT INKWELL. I want it. I also want that raven - I'm pretty sure Poe borrowed him from Maleficent, and I love all things Maleficent (she's the best Disney villain, in my opinion), so, ergo, vis-a-vis, I love that raven and need him.
THIS HOUSE. I want to stitch everything in the variegated silk that's in the roof. I also want a door that looks like this one. a) it's purple; 2) it has gold around the doorknob; and d) it's purple.
And then, there's the moon, peering over the haunted house. Just creepin' up there in the corner....lookin' at all his poems come to life....
GAH.
Ok. So, I've been promising to publish my color changes, and I make good on my promises.
I will say this - I had planned on making A LOT more changes, but as I started stitching, most of them didn't end up working out. I think because the fabric I chose to stitch this piece on is so drastically different from the model in the picture on the graph, that the changes I wanted to make would have looked great on the suggested fabric, but not so much on this one.
Changes are as follows:
Fabric used: 32 count Dusk by Picture This Plus
Fiber changes:
DMC 926 is changed to WDW Pewter for the lettering
DMC 3811 is changed to WDW Aqua
DMC 646 is changed to WDW Galvanized for the woman's hair (she's hanging out the window, all strung out) and in the inkwell
DMC 310/black is changed to WDW Mascara for the black in the raven, the inkwell, and the line under the house (special note about the raven: I originally planned on using CC Black Crow for the raven, because, duh, but it actually has too much blue in it. Because this fabric is such a dark dyed blue, the Black Crow didn't show up as I stitched, so I made the switch to WDW Mascara, which has just enough of a variation to make it look like the sheen of a raven's feathers.)
Note that for all but one of my changes, I only made the change in certain areas, not every place that color is used.
Again, the biggest reason I didn't make more drastic changes to the fibers is because the fabric I chose made most of the original colors punch you right in the face as you stitched. No need for dramatic fibers when the fabric is stealing the show.
It is also important to note that I used all of the Silk'n Colors called for in the graph. If you decide that might not use the silks, I think that you could get away with the DMC alternative for all of them except two: Desert Moss and Acorn Woods. These are the variegated colors in the roof and in the shingles on the side of the house. They're not variations of a solid color, they actually move between a few different colors (which you should be able to see in the pics above) as you stitch. If you want the same effect in your roof and house, then I highly suggest you get these two silks, even if you decide not to get the others.
These color changes will be published on my Fabric and Floss page for easy reference, should you want to make the same changes in this piece as I did, and need a quick reference. If you do, please link back or tag me in your Instagram shots (if you're on IG) so that I can see your progress! I love seeing everything everyone does.
