Trevelyon's Cap - the border

Truly I cannot believe I'm at this point. As I stitched the last bits of the panels, I was thinking about the border, dreaming about coming so close to the end and now...I'm doing it!These shapes are tiny. Remember teeny tiny? Well, these are really teeny tiny. The little red heart shaped flowers are smaller that the tip of an eraser on the end of a pencil. They're smaller than a hole punched in a piece of paper.Little things often make us smile and say things like "How cute!" That's exactly what I said as I finished the first of the acorn tops filled with French knots. The cluster of knots was so charming, so sweet that I took loads of photos trying to get the perfect one to share with you.There are four sections to stitch, each one the same. The silk goes in first, then the passing thread for the vines and lastly the spangles for the cluster of grapes that are on the end of each section. The grapes will go into the empty circles at the end of the border below. They will be worked in purple silk thread and tiny gold spangles.Even though the stitches are small, there is still texture to the work. When I took a photo from an angle it was apparent that the acorn tops had height and even the satin stitched flowers were a little raised off the fabric. Each of the satin stitched flowers were outlined with back stitch before putting in the stitches but I didn't pad them first as I did with the larger flowers in the panels. The shapes are so small that it just wasn't necessary.You may also have noticed that there are two pieces of white cloth over the work - one above and one below the border. I am keeping it covered just as I did when I worked the top panels so it doesn't get dirty. it's amazing the amount of grime that can find it's way onto a piece of pristine white fabric. I can't stress enough how important this is when you're working. It's always a good idea but absolutely essential when you're doing something that takes as long as this has (over a year) and is being worked on white fabric.Next time you see this piece, I will be doing the vines along the bottom. I have a great idea using a combination of Gilt Sylke Twist and gold passing thread that is going to look great! I just hope I can pull off the technique!