Cross-stitch question: Parking thread?

Question

I am trying an extrtemely large cross-stitch pattern that requires a lot of blended colors and changing those colors frquently. I was wondering how to achieve this without making the back of my canvas a mess. I read that parking thread is a good way to go, but the instructions I have read about parking thread only confused me. Could anyone tell me how to go about parking my thread? Thanks.

Answer 1

Although I have never heard of "parking thread" in those terms, it sounds like what I do when I am stitching several different colors and do not want to keep changing the thread in the needle. When you are done with one color for a bit, park the needle on top and in front of your fabric (design/project) in such a way that the thread is not dangling and there is no chance of the thread getting tangled up in other threads, then start a new needle with a new color, repeat this as many times as you need to change colors. When you need a color that is already threaded onto a needle and "parked" on top of your design, go back to it and start using that needle once again.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

If the pace between your groups of stitches is less than the length of yarn you use to finish and start again, you can 'park' your yarn out of the way, like going over the already worked stitches or over the empty canvas you are not going to use soon, make one half stitch (just going through the canvas or the back of a stitch and up again,) or pin in a pin and fix your yarn with that.
Next time you use that colour pull it back trough the canvas or unpin it and work towards the place where you need it by making stitches through the back of the cross stitches.

This will obviously only work when you have worked the space between the two sets of colours.
If you leave your yarn flying at the back where you have not yet made your stitches, you will find it very difficult not to get tangled in it when working there.

Sorry for not using the common cross-stitch words, I do most of my needle work in Dutch.

Answer 3

Here's a link to the Ezboard of "Heaven and Earth Designs", about parking. HTH

http://p081.ezboard.com/fheavenandearthdesignsfrm128