Our shipment of the 2 newest Hands Across The Sea Samplers will be here this week. Nicola had planned for a launch on June 12th, but some photos got published early so the release date got pushed up. We have fabric and thread should come later this week as well.
Harriett Salt 1866 is a Bristol sampler in lovely red. Nicola stitched hers on a hand-dyed Zweigart Kingston linen (from Poland) with Soie 100/3. I prefer Soie Surfine (130/2) on these denser count linens so the stitches are crisper. The dense count linens are rarely truly even and Kingston is no exception. Nicola said hers counted to 52/54.
My test on Kingston Cream came out 53/60 (see below). That might be because the dyers use white and perhaps that color's mill run ran a little closer to the same warp and weft. Personally on a Bristol sampler I think some unevenness is a good thing, making it look more like the linen used during that time frame. The color of Soie 100/3 (681) Nicolla used is out of stock in the US now but there are other great red options. 109 and 499 are reds and if you want more of a dark cranberry 524 is good as well. Soie Surfine comes in 2109, 2499 and 2681 which matches the 3 digit color in 100/3.
We have given several fabric options on the order page, which includes the chart as well as the various thread options.
Elizabeth Atkinson 1828 features a lovely border and motifs. Stitched in 15 colors it can be worked either Soie d'Alger, Soie 100/3 or DMC floss. Our order page has the colors for all 3 types of threads. The model was stitched on 46 count linen with Soie 100/3 and we have color options for that count as well as some other counts.
