I’ve chosen to fill the entire background with a wide plain green lattice. I filled the horn on the top left with a slightly smaller green lattice to give the impression that it’s further away.
I’ve found that I love battlement couching - the figure with the fat tummy in the middle. It is so very rich in colour and dimension. I did stuff up on the number of threads required. I thought 4, looking at the thread coverage on the whipped line at the bottom and when I had almost finished the couching and found that I really needed 5 threads, I had no lighter shades to use so I have gaps showing the ground. Oh well. I otherwise really love it. If I’m ever to do battlement couching on a piece tho, I’m sure going to trial it first! I did have a play on another motif with the darkest colour at the front, lightest colour at the back and thought it didn’t look anywhere near as good, and frogged it. The darkest colour at the back gives the impression that the tiny squares recede into the ground.
On the left, I’ve done a whipped wheel in purple and yellow. The outline is a line of “centipede” or “knotted loop” stitch (from Yvette Stanton’s Left Handed Enclycopaedia) in heathered tan and blue. As the stitch got narrower at the top, I did only one side of the stitch which was normal buttonhole stitch. This was edged in some heavy chain stitch in a dark blue woad, and some stem in purple. I’m edging all motifs and outside edges in purple to pull the piece together.