new project - unstitched coif

 a recent request for participants in a Ph.D project on Blackwork caught my eye and i have signed up 

i have been drawn to blackwork for a while and find it challenging as it involves precision and good eyesight if it is to be done well - i recently completed a kit in blackwork fill stitches which i enjoyed, but working stitches that small was really at the limits of my skill 

i have also used blackwork fills on a doodle piece, drawing grids for the stitches rather than counting threads - this is not as precise, but i find it an acceptable alternative in that context

anyway..... the project........ it is called Unstitched Coif and is about stitching the design of an Elizabethan coif - participants are given the design and left to recreate it in pretty well whatever style they chose - so there are some decisions to make, but there are also some boundaries - a helpful and interesting combination for me

I want to use blackwork fills, but my vintage linen is too fine (approx 60 count) for me to count threads, so i am drawing grids - the motifs are flowers, leaves, birds and insects - some of the motifs are too small for me to use blackwork fills, but lend themselves to the speckled stitching fills which appeared on later work, so i'll be using those as well

i can't limit myself to black, so have decided to use colour for the outlines

i'm guessing that i will have trouble sticking to the plan but the project leader and Ph.D student told us that this is about the process of stitching and not historical accuracy, so i feel that gives us quite a bit of flexibility to wander off-piste a bit

progress so far looks like this:

we have until around November to complete, but completion is not absolutely necessary ( hooray, good excuse for a UFO and in keeping with the title!)