OK, I can understand a fair amount of the cross stitch lingo, but some of it may as well be greek. For example, FQ is fat quarter, but what is it a Q of? I can't find what FQ, or HQ, or full quarter means either. I bought a fat quarter and it came Friday, and it isn't big enough for a Mirabilia that is 20" by 36". And it is lovely too. My project would fit with very short edges, but I don't know if I would still be able to frame it with so little of a margin.
On to the translation:
"Floss" and not "thread". It comes (usually) in skeins, either a solid color, variegated, overdyed, hand dyed and so forth. 8 or 9 yards per skein and each length of floss is made up of 6 single strands. To use, cut the length needed (maybe 30 inches or so ) and separate the strands and use the number of strands called for in the pattern instructions to thread your needle.
TIA means thanks in advance, when one is asking for a favor, information, and so forth.
ISO means In Search Of
2 over 2 means two threads of floss stitched over 2 holes, making 32 into 16 stitches per inch. The same follows for the other stitch parameters.
Lugana, Jobelan, Aida, linen etc. is the type of fabric, and usually, they follow the stitches per inch for that type. For example Aida typically comes in 14 or 18 count where linen is usually in 28, or 32 count. This latter type is for young stitchers without vision problems, and not for all of we old nearsighted stitchers.
ORT refers to any container used to dispose of scraps of floss, makes a nice colorful nest of floss, what would it be used for? I dunno. "Ort" is used for any leftovers, i.e. the rich would have a servant carry leftover bread, roast meat, and so on, out to the hungry folks waiting. You would know this if you do crossword puzzles.
No one but the very young or beginning stitcher would hand-hold a project to stitch. Most would use a hoop (two circles of wood holding the fabric between them) or Q-Snaps (4 pieces of PVC in a square or rectangle that the fabric is stretched over and fastened) or a roll-type that allows the fabric to be advanced as it is stitched.
Lowery, Landis, and other sorts of stands that are on the floor, or held by sitting on them, so that both hands are free to stitch. There are quite a few of these stands, depending on what the project is on, hoop, roll frame, q snap and so on. You can usually figure out the meaning even if you don't know exactly what the stand is.
LNS is Local Needlework Shop, a brick-and-mortar store. Some of them sell online too.
Frog means to tear out stitches that are wrong (rip-it, rip-it)
SAL is a Stitch A Long, an organizer or designer will release part of a project monthly, for instance. You don't know what the final result will be until the end segment is released. Lots of stitchers working on the same design.
HAED is short for Heaven and Earth Designs, this is usually a full-coverage design (no part of the fabric is visible). Typical images are angels, pixies, and so forth.
Mirabilia and some other brands like Lavendar and Lace are also full-coverage designs (none of the fabric itself is visible), often women wearing elaborate costumes, mermaids, angels, pixies, etc. There are a lot of patterns for seasonal themes, Christmas and Hallowe'en being the most popular themes. As you might guess, they take a long time to stitch.
Samplers are patterns that usually include the alphabet, numbers 1 to 10, the name of the stitcher, the date, and a whole lot more of things. They are very popular, and many are models that are inspired by vintage samplers found in museums.
FFO means a full-finished object, framed project or pillow, afghan, etc.
FO means it is finished but needs to be made into its final form.
If you are puzzled by seeing on a post on youtube the single word "bump" it refers to a method to move your post up in the roster of newer posts. It is short for "bring my post up"
UFO is an unfinished object, but it designates a project that is stuffed into a drawer and not stitched upon now if ever again.
OOP is short for Out Of Print or Production for a pattern, usually used when a stitcher is trying to sell a pattern. This could be used on virtually any design/pattern because there are so many patterns available, and designers continue to produce more,. Once released for sale, buy it if you are willing to pay full price. There are scads of unused old patterns and kits that sell for as little as $1, up to hundreds of dollars for ones that are scarce or desirable. There again, you can join a facebook group where everything cross stitch is for sale.
Haul is a general term for cross stitch stuff you have bought.
WIP is Work in Progress, anywhere from one to dozens, depending on the stitcher.
BNNU is a fairly new description, and stands for brand new never used. this strikes me as redundant.
Stash is all of your materials, kits, fabric, floss, patterns, etc. Usually far too much on hand.
DMC is floss of that brand, made in France, in 450+ colors. There are other brands of floss, including hand dyed flosses, but DMC is the most popular.
Needleminders are magnets in fanciful images that fasten to a WIP to hold a resting needle.
"Kitting" means pulling from your stash all the materials (floss, fabric, needles, pattern) needed to tackle a pattern. A kit has all that is needed ready for the project and costs more than the pattern alone.
Flosstube is the term used to designate facebook (or how-tos on youTube) videos about cross stitching, there are several hundred stitchers who regularly contribute to these, although many of the groups require that you "join" to be able to read posts. You can find them using Google.
One of the groups on Flosstube is "Cross stitch Maynia" which refers to the month of May during which one project is started for each of the first 15 days, or for the whole month. You'd need to be really compulsive to participate.
Just recently you may see patterns that say "diamond painted" or refer to "drills". This is a new hobby that has vivid subjects, found along with usual cross stitch patterns. They are NOT (ask me how I know) cross stitch, but a method similar to paint-by-number and mosaic melded together. The tiny bits are called drills (don't know why) and they take a pretty long time to put in place with wax.
There are oodles more terms, I will add them to this post as I think of them.
No comments :
Post a Comment