Witch Hats with Stitch Guide by Kelly Clark UPDATED

Kelly Clark Witch Hats

Folks love Halloween and they love Kelly Clark's designs, so naturally when Kelly designed witch hats for the June 2011 TNNA show, people got excited.  Here are the bare naked canvases on display in Kelly's show booth (very last photo).  Click to enlarge it.
http://kellyclarkneedlepointhandbook.blogspot.com/

The hats seem to be made up of two pieces--a triangular hat top and a semi-circular brim. This will make finishing and display easier.  I'm not sure about the size but they look too large to be ornaments.

Nimble Needle (Atlanta, GA) says that there is a spiral-bound stitch guide book for all six witch hats.  The photo that illustrates this article is from their newsletter.  I'm sure they are going to get it in stock.  Here is their website in case you don't have a local shop that can order the stitch guide and a canvas for you.
http://www.atlantanimbleneedle.com/

Needle Works in Austin has another photo of the Kelly Clark witch hats on their shop blog.  Of course they can order for you, too.  (second link)
http://theneedleworks.typepad.com/the_needle_works/2011/06/more-fun-stuff.html

http://www.theneedleworks.com/catalog/index.php

Many thanks to both shops for keeping us informed!

UPDATE:  Stitched Up Needleworks has kits for the Kelly Clark witch hats along with Laurie Walden stitch guides.  Contact the shop (second link below) to order.

https://mailchi.mp/stitchedupneedleworks/hats-off-to-halloween?e=07414d94b0

https://stitchedupneedleworks.com/

Terry Christopher (2 The Point Needlepoint)

2 the Point's Terry Christopher has quite a few wonderful Melissa Shirley stitch guides available.  Melissa posted photos of some on Facebook today.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150231516604252.362281.370199729251

You can read a bit about Terry's approach to stitch guides on the 2 the Point canvas clubs page.  Click on the links to see her work.
http://www.topoint.com/canvasclubs.htm

UPDATE:  Here is Terry's guide for this Maggie bird and flower canvas.
https://www.facebook.com/2thepointneedlepoint/photos/a.194019823963352.45389.157438187621516/804413596257302/?type=1&theater

Needlenook Does Stitch Guides

Needlenook of La Jolla (California) has updated their website with a new look.  Now there is a reference to custom stitch guides and a link to a sample page of what you can expect.  Pricing is available "upon request."
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/custom.html

Barbara Elmore on Stitch Guides

Here is a charming essay on stitch guides and their writers by the incredibly talented Barbara Elmore.  The modern guides I've seen written by Beverly Churchfield and Wendy Harwood continue this tradition of hand drawn charts and notes, and the books by Carolyn Hedge Baird all have mostly hand written text and drawings to illustrate her points.
http://web.me.com/bedezines/Stitchpography/stitchpography/Entries/2009/11/30_the_wonderful_world_of_stitch_guides%21.html

Why Buy a Stitch Guide?

This morning I stumbled across an interesting article on the Ridgewood shop blog that talks about a painted canvas embellishment class Jan took at the ANG Seminar.  This class was team taught by Suzanne Howren, Tony Minieri, Beth Robertson and Meredith Willett.  Jan came home with a stitch guide she developed under their tutelage but she wasn't happy with the sky so she posted a question on the ANG email list asking for ideas.  You can follow the link Elaine put in her article if you want to see the piece and Jan's thoughts on it.
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-horizon.html

The reason I mention this (besides it's being a quite interesting discussion) is that I wanted to point out there are many reasons for buying a stitch guide.  Most people buy one because they don't know how to stitch a painted canvas they bought except for tent stitches.  That isn't something everyone wants to do these days, so a stitch guide is very helpful.

Other folks use a stitch guide as a jumping off point.  With a guide, you don't have to make every decision yourself.  Many folks want all the decisions made for them so they can just sit and stitch in a relaxed manner, but others take the guide as a general map and substitute threads and stitches for spots where they have ideas of their own they think will work better.  That is what Jan ended up doing and in my experience, many folks have very decided ideas about how they want to stitch a piece--they just have a problem area they are unsure of or they need help figuring out how to execute their plan.

The third reason for buying a stitch guide is to learn.  Each stitch guide writer has an individual style that probably is different than your own.   I love reading stitch guides to analyze them to learn how a master approaches a certain canvas.  I keep them and re-read them periodically, using the stitches diagrammed inside in other similar places, and just for the joy of watching a really good stitcher at work.

Whatever your reason for adding a stitch guide to your collection, I hope you have great fun stitching your piece with a stitch guide leading the way.

Art Needlepoint's "Stitch Guide"

Art Needlepoint's blog just mentioned what they call a stitch guide, emailed free to anyone who has bought from them in the last year.  It appears to be a collection of twenty-two diagrammed stitches along with hints on where to use them.  It is NOT what we generally refer to as a stitch guide, which is usually what a road map plan for a specific canvas is called by modern needlepointers.
http://artneedlepoint.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=1264&PostID=69700

Please note that Art Needlepoint sells glicee printed canvases (and some hand painted ones--see Doreen's Comment below) that reproduce various paintings.  Their work is not stitch painted so if you are not comfortable with canvases where you have to figure out what color goes where, you should avoid their designs.

Tapestry Fair Stitch Guides on Website UPDATED

Partridge and Pear Stitch Guide

Hurrah!  Tapestry Fair has reorganized their stitch guides section of their website to include guides for their canvases from many sources.  Sometimes there are multiple guides available for the same piece so you can pick the style closest to your own.  Here's the link.
http://www.tapestryfair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=73

Here is what Peggi says about the guides on her blog.
http://tapestryfair.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-stitch-guide-page.html

By the way, Ruth Schmuff just finished the stitch guide for Tapestry Fair's Pharaoh Dog.  I am not sure this is up on the Tapestry Fair site yet so here is the link to Ruth's description of the guide.  Follow the links to Ruth's shop to pick up the guide or to see her companion piece, Bastet the Cat.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2014/03/the-pharoah-dog.html

UPDATE:  Here's the Halloween owl stitched using Tapestry Fair's guide.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeedlepointNation/permalink/5452997801444000/