Along Came a Spider! (a "jeweled" one)

Another little "jeweled" critter hiding in the filing cabinet! As I remember, this is also derived from my binge of reproducing antique jewelry in needlepoint a number of years ago. I didn't finish it , obviously, probably because the gold I used doesn't show up well and/or I got distracted by another project.

It was actually, as I remember, an exercise working out backgrounds in beads. (You can clearly see the dots made for bead placement.) Anyway - The spider itself without background is only 2 3/4" high on 18 mesh canvas, and has all kinds of possiblities for use.

I was looking at it last night, and thinking it would make a fun napkin ring for a Halloween party table, but with less vertical background, and maybe ruching with elastic on the back or something of that nature. I tried it out around a napkin, and the spider shows up well, considering the napkin rings are about 5 1/3" long before finishing.

I also used to use these small pieces as "plant stakes" for either gift plants or to decorate my own houseplants in pots. They can be finished like ornaments to hang, but with also a little pocket on the back for insertion of a skinny dowel. The body is made with just long, horizontal stitches in Black Frosty Rays with a gold thread inside that gives it a bit of sparkle. The green eyes are Kreinik #12 braid, as are the silver " bump" stitches (Smyrna Crosses).

Here is the chart for the spider - use your imagination and have fun with it!!

By the way, this chart will also work on waste canvas, as maybe on clothing or on a quilt block. Just stitch it as it is in needlepoint, then remove the canvas threads - OR you could also do it in counted X-Stitch by making the X's on your fabric where the dots are on this chart. I dealt with the "bump" stitch in a previous post on converting.