At long last I can present my finish photo. Not my mounted and ready to display shot, but my “all stitching done” pix:
and proof that I’ve signed the thing:
I finished it up within 24 hours of my last post. Where have I been since then?
Wallowing in post-project ennui. Knitting socks for Elder Daughter. Treating myself to a flat Millennium Frame for the next stitched project, which being silk, is not a good candidate for a round frame. Working on a lecture on embroidery patterns, to be given at the Hrim Schola XVI (also here)– an SCA event focused on sharing learning about needlework, to be held on 17 March. Working on TNCM2, which now looks to be topping out at 60 plates of source-annotated historical patterns, more or less. Handling work deadlines. Shuttling said Elder Daughter back to college, and Younger Daughter to fencing class. Mocking The Resident Male for being a latecomer to blogging. The usual.
Imminent Death of wiseNeedle
On a more serious note, I am also preparing to take down wiseNeedle. Some of the content will be salvaged and re-offered, like the patterns and the glossary. But the rest won’t be.
Why do this after a on-the-Web run dating back to 1995? Mostly economics. I’ve supported the thing out of my own pocket since the beginning. It wasn’t cheap because we need a commercial grade SQL service to support the yarn review collection, plus incorporation to protect family assets from potential suits by folks upset by yarn review content. Ad revenue made it a business, and taxes on that tiny income stream had to be handled, too.
Thanks to the advertising, wiseNeedle broke even for several years, but no longer. Yarndex made a slight dent in readership, but our independent non-sponsored stance preserved interest. Folk knew that when they saw wiseNeedle reviews posted, the information was all-volunteer and totally unsponsored. But when Ravelry broke loose, traffic here nosedived and never recovered. It’s now at about 8 percent of what it was back then. They now take up the lion’s share of knitting traffic on the Web, with their own advice boards and yarn review collection. It’s clear that concerns beyond the hobbyist level – small time independents like wiseNeedle no longer have a place on the ‘Net. Ravelry as a newly minted 500-pound gorilla, wins.
String and its URL will continue although we will be porting it to a lower cost service later this year. I am hoping to preserve String’s back content, but I’m not sure how to handle wiseNeedle’s sublinks. All of those (plus String’s) may break. It’s a shame that the yarn review back catalog of info will be lost. It covers lots of yarns dating back through time and is still a valuable resource for people looking to make substitutions. Unless there’s an entity interested in buying and hosting the database (sans contributors addresses, to preserve their anonymity), it will be going away soon.
String-Or-Nothing 
What? Aw. Too bad. Well, at least this blog will remain. Your glowing thoughts are what really matter in the grand scheme of things!
I’m sorry to hear about the demise of WiseNeedle. I just learned about it via The Crochet Answer Book. MaryO
😦 I’ll be sad to see wiseNeedle go…in my early days of knitting, this was my go-to site. (Not that I remember what handle I used, nor which email addy.) I wonder if the Ravelry people would be able to import it.
That’s an amazing sampler!
I have watched the sampler grow from the beginning – it looks fabulous and very inspirational! Very much looking forward to TNCM2 and your next stitching project. Although it is sad to hear of the imminent demise of wiseNeedle, please do keep blogging.
Oh, I am SO very sad to hear about WiseNeedle. I love that website! Well, the whole collection. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve referred to your stuff. Will you post and let us know what happens?
What an amazing sampler! You inspire me with your designs. Thank you for sharing all that you do.
Well I am sorry that Wiseneedle will be going away even though I haven’t used it. I think I am allergic to knitting and such as I can’t seem to get it figured out. It is always sad to see a pet project go away.
As to your completed sampler, it is extremely beautiful as we all knew it would be. I think about the size of it and am amazed every time. I wish I could attend the event, but being from Texas is definately a hinderance to me. Traveling that far on limited income makes it much more difficult.
I’ve been very grateful to Wiseneedle over the years. Thank you for keeping it going so long.
I want to thank you for Ensamplario Atlantico. I have already used a couple of your filling patterns in a blackwork project I have underway. I just wanted to ask if there is a chart for the dragon in your sampler above? I would love to use that design if it is at all possible in a sample I’m about to start.
Thanks! I’m delighted when folk enjoy the Atlantio patterns. There is a chart for the dragon, but I’m afraid that I won’t be posting it here. You’ll have to wait until I release my forthcoming book “The Second Carolingian Modelbook”. Sorry for the delay!
No problems – any idea when it is likely to be released? I could always leave a blank space in my sampler for it!
Cheers
Ruth
Slow going here. Am hoping to finish by Spring 2014.
I know about slow! I recently made a serious push to complete a blackwork sampler I had been working on, on and off (more off) for three years. I was about half done at that point. I decided to just watch some old DVDs so I could focus on the stitching – each time I sat down and watched an episode, I stitched. Anyway, I worked my way through 10 seasons of Stargate, 5 seasons of Statgate Atlantis and 2 seasons of Stargate Universe, and got half-way through a series of Angel, but I got it finished! That all took several months of course. I’m now just waiting to collect it from the framers. I can’t believe how many hours it all took, but must admit that there was a fair amount of pulling out and re-doing included in that time. I plan to start another one soon, so I think I will still have plenty of room by the time your book comes out 🙂
Ooh. Now you highlight a major weakness of mine. I have two mega-samplers, stitched and complete in my basket, awaiting framing. (Hangs head in shame). Congrats on the finish!
Hello
I loved your table Blackwork embroidery.https://kbsalazar.files.wordpress.com/Wed,/11/zrtn_001n43ba2b0_tn.jpg?w=623&h=750 I apologize for daring but how could I get the schematics of it? Thanks for the information
pandrade37@gmail.com
Thanks for the compliment. There is no chart for this project. It’s an original – compiled as I stitched from patterns I have individually graphed up. Most of these patterns will be in my forthcoming book – The Second Carolingian Modelbook. I’m putting the finishing touches on the book and will announce here on String when it will be available for purchase. But I have no plans on separately graphing up this immense project. Again thanks!