Embroidery horoscope: Which technique do you like best?
Select one and read what 2023 will bring. 😊
Goldwork: fire
Bling, bling, bling. Undoubtedly you love the sun and the light. Similarly, to a crow, you like to collect shiny objects and pile them in your box. You are a passionate, creative, and motivated person, except when you are not. Occasionally, the fire in you dwindles and it’s hard to get out of bed. Take some time off to do the things you did as a child. You might discover new creative horizons. As it is, you are fired up and the future is bright for you (but not for your pocket it seems 😊). In 2023 you will enlarge your goldwork equipment and supplies collection. One can never have enough of those.
The technique of the year: a traditional technique of making circles with bright check and an experimental technique of how to make purls stay vertical.
The technique of the year: a traditional technique of making circles with a bright check and an experimental technique of how to make purls stay vertical.
Who to look up to: Alison Cole, Sara Rickards, Tracy Franklin, Hanny Newton, Laura Baverstock, Linnea Lyndon
Book recommendation:
Tracy A. Franklin: New ideas in Goldwork, 2002
Alison Cole: The Goldwork Masterclass, Adventures in metal thread embroidery, 2019
Emi Nimura: Goldwork, Techniques, projects 6 pure inspiration, 2021
Lizzy Pye: Goldwork embroidery, Techniques and projects, 2021
Whitework: air
You love texture over colour. You love Rome over Venice and pasta over pizza. You are like an onion; you seem a peaceful and uncomplicated person, but when one peels layer after layer of your character one discovers hidden depths and never-ending quirks. Your humour and wit are assets, but sometimes your openness and belief in good make you a naïve idealist. Remember to stay grounded in 2023 and all will be well. Your easy manner and intelligence will lead you on a path of discovery of new threads and new stitches.
The technique of the year: drawn thread techniques, whitework with beading
Who to look up to: Jenny Adin-Christie
Book recommendation:
Jenny Adin-Christie: Fine Whitework, Techniques, projects & pure inspiration, 2023
A-Z of Whitework, The ultimate resources for beginners and experienced needleworkers, 2015
Tracy A. Franklin, Nicola Jarvis: Contemporary whitework, 2008
Moyra McNeil: Pulled Thread Embroidery, 1971
Silk shading: water
The colour is the king for you. You like to blend styles, always finding new and exciting colour combinations. You find delight in morning sky colors. Although you are a night awl, every time you see the gorgeous pinks, yellows, and oranges of the sky, you promise yourself you will be an early riser, but you never are. There is still time 😊Every colour is an emotion, a memory for you. Deeply intuitive and emotional, you try to hide and suppress it all. You excel in embroidery with your dedication bordering on obsession, but in 2023 be careful to balance your passion; find the equilibrium between building and tearing it down, between perfection and destruction. Do the samplers and test the colour combinations, but make peace with three little stitches that seem to be a little wonky. All is imperfect, therefore strive for excellence, not perfection.
The technique of the year: turning and spiralling in long and short stitches, random stitch shading
Who to look up to: Marg Dier, Pauline Texidor, Fiance Knowles, Trish Burr, Victoria Matthewson, Margaret Lee, Amy Burt, Emillie Farris
Book recommendation:
Victoria Matthewson: Needlepainted Plants and Pollinators, 2021
Margaret Dier: Thread painting and silk shading embroidery, Techniques and projects, 2019
Margaret Lee: The Art of Chinese embroidery 2, 2020
Trish Burr: Colour confidence in embroidery, 2011
Emillie Farris: Paint with thread, 2022
Blackwork: earth
You are a precise, methodical, and dedicated stitcher with a busy future. You like to order and plan your daily life as carefully as your blackwork designs. You are practical and diligent, sometimes slow-moving, and colourlessfocused on simplicity. In 2022 you were discovering that life is much more than colorless every day and it’s exciting to add some bling to your life. In 2023 your need for luxury and sensuality will come to the fore. Go for that new rich, texturized, and scrumptious set of threads, or blackwork kit you long for.
The technique of the year: blackwork in combination with other techniques (blackwork and goldwork; blackwork and stumpwork)
Who to look up to: Jen Goodwin
Book recommendation:
Jen Goodwin: Blackwork embroidery, Techniques and Projects, 2020
Melanie Couffe: Blackwork Embroidery in Colour, 2023
Dear embroiderers.
Stay focused, creative, and dedicated. Strive for mastery, not perfection. Be aware, that there is beauty even in the most unusual, flawed, and imperfect parts of this world.
You are the best version of yourself you can be.
Disclaimer: This post is written to entertain. I don’t have any astrological knowledge whatsoever.
I recommend creators that I follow and admire, books that I have read or that are on my wish list. I don’t receive any compensation monetary or otherwise for this post. I’m not a part of any affiliate program.