Lindisfarne Stones: the first side

The 'box' that will surround the stone will have goldwork stitching on all four sides and the top, though not the base.  Working my way in gently, I'm doing the sides first, and the shorter ones at that.

All pieces will be solidly worked, entirely covered in couched gold thread.  I'm using imitation Japanese gold no. 8, couched with Au Ver a Soie soie d'Alger no. 0936 - a strong red - to form the pattern.  As there are longer gaps between the stitches forming the pattern than I might like, I'm also using another thread to couch in between them: the machine embroidery thread Gutermann Sulky no. 8007.  This is a metallic gold, and almost exactly the same colour as the couched thread, making it difficult to see in use. This is exactly what I want, as I don't want it forming part of the pattern, just quietly keeping the couched thread straight and flat.

Here, you can see all three threads in action:

I'm making two small couching stitches next to each other in the red, to emphasise the design, but just the one with the Sulky as it doesn't need to be seen.  I'm also using one long length of the Jap gold, straight from the reel, and going backwards and forwards with it, to cover the entire felt shape:

You get a bit of an idea of how it catches the light here, though in real life it's really quite shiny!