Another band of Loara Standish

Indulged myself just once more to work on and complete another Blackwork / double running band on Loara Standish. Loara Standish' sampler is the oldest sampler to date found in the United States and the original one can be seen in the town hall in Plymouth, Massachussetts. I do love to do Double running stitch - it lends itself so well to stitch reversibly and I enjoy seeing
the patterns develop either exactly or sometimes see a different pattern evolve on the back side of the embroidery. I changed the colors and chose darker threads in the tan brown colors so that the pattern would be a bit more visible from far away. I debated if I should change the green color also and work the entire band in the darker color but then decided to work it exactly as recommended by Joanne. It was interesting also to note how Loara stitched this sampler in the truest sense - the narrower bands on top and on the bottom of the wider band are different patterns and it was interesting to note the dimensionality achieved in the center of the small flowers by simply using long armed cross stitch.

Closeup of texture and dimension

Unearthing another UFO ... the beauty of Blackwork/ Holbein stitch

I was really hoping to start working on my Japanese Embroidery and tried to do so last night... stretching my right arm as required is not yet possible...have to figure out how to work around my frozen shoulder and deal with the pain on the weekend in the morning not at the end of a day.
One good thing about this frozen shoulder episode is that I am getting less sleep than normal - the pain usually wakes me up and then getting back to sleep is almost impossible.
This morning I retrieved another sampler from my UFO (Unfinished Object) sampler drawer.  It is one that I had enjoyed working on sometime between 1998-2000 (will check my paperwork later)  but then had put aside for some reason or the other.
 So, here is where I had left off on my next sampler - it is "SH" 1683 reproduced by Margriet Hogue of The Essamplaire.  This is about one third of the sampler and this part is mostly Holbein stitch or running stitches usually called Blackwork.  I had stitched all the bands reversibly... figuring out the pathways to be able to do this is what I really find intriguing in this technique.   

Re-discovering 

Close up of "Back" of the band to date....

Close - up of the front of the last worked band