As with the pom poms from the latest catalog cover, I had some leftover strands of Imagination in Enchanted Forest and Shadow Tonal in Springtime from making the stems for the cover. I unearthed a piece of linen in my fabric stash last night and decided to try both yarns out by making a little sampler of swirls! The thinner strands of Shadow worked beautifully on this tightly woven fabric. I was able to get some very precise stitches and the gradual shift of tonal colors along each strand kept things interesting. Working with the strands of Imagination wasn’t quite as effortless as Shadow, but a bit easier than my previous experiments embroidering with Palette. Enchanted Forest also has much shorter and more contrasting sections of color than Springtime and I found the combination of the two breathtaking. I alternated rows of each yarn in the largest swirl wound up with raised sections of the darker Imagination threads and little valleys of bright green Shadow which reminds me of the vivid greens of terraced rice paddies.

It’s getting cloer to Mother’s Day and I’m still trying to think of something to make. I might even make a wall hanging from this nifty little experiment! What are you doing for your lovely mothers next month?