Needlepoint on 13-mesh canvas. Planet Earth Fiber 100% silk, Silk & Ivory 50% silk + 50% merino wool blend, 100% cotton floss, metallic thread.

Technical challenges:  It was high time for me to learn something besides continental stitch so I got out my  Mary Thomas stitch dictionary and started tagging designs that looked interesting. Did the usual work with graph paper to make sure the stitch repeats would be centered as closely as possible in each block. (Note: unless you are a compulsive perfectionist, needlepoint on canvas is probably not for you.) Arranged the blocks so this could be a useful reference: Column A is combinations of straight and crossed stitches; Column B is bidirectional diagonal stitches; Column C is straight stitches; Column D is unidirectional diagonal stitches; Column E is novelty stitches. Two blocks with continental stitch variations are at lower left. 100% silk yarn is still the nicest to work with, and 100% stranded cotton is still nothing special. 

The continental stitch block at lower left was the hardest to balance with the rest of the piece and I redid it three times because it was like a little trumpet blaring there in the corner. I wanted to show how the stitch could be used to create a motif but the early versions were much too bright and busy. Finally I got tired of cutting out the stitches one at a time with embroidery scissors. It's done.