I’ve continued working the diaper pattern from last week, and realised I can do variations of this one pattern on several of the castle towers, getting quite different effects.

It will look quite different if I have the diagonal stitches touching, rather than off-setting them, also whether I put in a horizontal stitch at the top and bottom of each rectangle.

I was keen to try out variations, but realised that the castle really needed to have some fabric strips putting round the edge of the blue background fabric, to stop it fraying any more…..

…….. also to be able to stretch it on a frame and put it on a stand, making it much easier to work on, with one hand on top and the other underneath.

I’d counted my backstitches and worked out how many repeats from one side to the other. I was being too impatient to get stitching, so started at the top rather than working out from the middle and outwards from there. I was also playing thread chicken with an old wooden reel of Coats Satinised Machine Twist.

I was really pleased with how it was looking, and continued stitching…..

……. only to find that the last pattern was two threads short of the backstitch edge. I’d had about 6 inches of thread to spare. I was happy with the colour, so didn’t want to unpick and start again and, on looking at it, realised the darker effect on the right hand side and lighter on the left makes the tower appear rounder. Phew!

I then did two rows of the same pattern, but with the diagonal stitches touching on a narrower tower.

I’ve reassessed the threads I’m going to use in better daylight, eliminating some for being too light, too grey, too mauve, or too turquoise. This is the selection to choose from at the moment.

I’ve started with a thicker perlé in the foreground.

It’s also slightly brighter.

I’ve also made the decision to use the same thread and diaper on the symmetrical blocks, so the foreground section will be mirror-imaged. (And writing that has made me aware that I haven’t mirror-imaged what I have done on the left hand tower.) Some unstitching to do next, then.