Finally beginning a new Rug!

After a long break in which I haven't stitched a rug, I can finally say I have started on my Christmas rug!  Since each rug takes so long to stitch, I felt I needed to start it now so that it will be ready for my Santa's Cottage this Christmas. 

This rug will be approximately 4" x 6" when finished and will fit well into the decor of the cottage. This first photo shows approximately 6 hours worth of stitching.  It is being stitched on 40 count silk gauze using 1 strand of DMC floss.

Stitching Tips: One thing of note that I would like to mention here is that when you have a light color as I do in this border, you should not stitch the dark color first and carry the threads across to the next motif.  The dark green of the Christmas trees would show through the lighter color of the background if you carried the dark thread ​from one tree to

the next before stitching the light color.  It doesn't show through if you stitch the light color first and carry the dark thread across.  However, just in case it did show through, I have stitched the light background first then started stitching the inner red line before I started the trees.  I placed the tree in the corner first and did not run my starting thread under the light background.  Once the tree was complete, I ran the green thread under the red stitching at the base of the tree then over the light stitches (not under them) to the next tree above it.  In this way, I don't carry the thread over the light color very much and it doesn't show through.  I am working my way up the left side of the rug in this fashion, first stitching the background, then the tree.

As you can also see, I once again, have not started in the middle of the pattern.  This is simply my preference and your rugs can be started in the middle if you prefer that.  When starting in a corner, I simply make sure my gauze is big enough to fit the frame and I choose a frame that has an opening that the rug will fit inside.  I have the inside measurements of the frame opening written on the top of each frame so that I may choose the correct one for my project. This one is 1/2" larger in both directions so that I know it will fit.  I start in a bottom corner and work my way outwards. Since I work my rugs this way, I do not have to make sure the center of my gauze is in the center of the fame opening.  My rug will always fit and I won't have to re-position my gauze if  I started in the middle and made a mistake finding the center.

To reduce counting, I work partway across and up then begin the background and motifs of the border.  This way, I work my way up and across using my motifs to count my way.  The largest stretch that I have to count in the border of this rug is 5 rows - a very easy number to follow.  Once I have made my way to the top left corner and the bottom right corner, I begin working across the top and up the right side until they meet at the top right corner.  As long as I have made no mistakes when counting out the border, everything should match up easily and the inner section of the rug will be easy to stitch.