Teneriffe - part I

I finally got back to some Teneriffe. As soon as I started, I realized one reason that I kept putting it off for so long - I still don't know what to use as a background! If you recall, I initially started using a cork pad. That didn't work too well - the pins were hard to push in (as in, I had to hammer them in...) and once in, they were really firm. As a result, when I started making the lace, the piece was under a lot of tension. It never looked good when I pulled it off.

Apparently I forgot all about that - or at least, didn't think it was as bad as I remembered, because when I decided to make another Teneriffe medallion, I came back to my cork board. Big mistake. This little medallion was the result. I was seriously worried that I would snap the thread, the thing was under so much tension! Not to mention the pins were not flush with the cork and the thread kept getting tangled up in them. As soon as I was done with this medallion, I threw away the cork pad so that I wouldn't be tempted to use it again.

As you can see, the medallion looks all wonky and misshapen. Part of it has to do with the bent pins, but mostly, it was under a lot of uneven tension and it shows.

This medallion is a really, really easy little thing to make. I did like using finer thread though - I went from DMC 20 (I think) to DMC 80. I was thinking though that at some point I really should stop using DMC 80 for everything and actually start using thread:)

With the cork pad out of commission, I had to look into alternate things to use as a background. More to follow...