A new cap design - redrawing the past

As you know, I'm working on a new cap design. Well, to be honest I'm working on two new cap designs. After beginning work on the gold cap, I fell in love with another Trevelyon design containing pomegranates. Some of you may remember my very first RSN Certificate piece which had a pomegranate as part of the design and I've loved them ever since!This time, rather than printing the original, tracing it, scanning it back into my computer and then touching it up so it's useable, I began directly with the original and cleaned it up. I want you to think about that - using a computer I cleaned up the pencil marks of a man who lived over 400 years ago. At first, I was so taken with the process I didn't stop to think about what was going on before my eyes. As I worked, it occurred to me that my mouse was erasing smudges that had been made on the original drawing. I was erasing smudges that had been part of the image since just after it was drawn by Thomas Trevelyon's own hand.It was time travel right in front of me, on my desk.  I was "touching" (using a computer, granted) the work of someone from a very long time ago. I was cleaning up the marks, the smudges, the damage that had happened over all those years so we, here in the 21st century, could use his design again. Do you think it would EVER have occurred to him that someone, in 2016, would want to use his design? For that matter, do you think he ever thought about 2016? I doubt it! I certainly don't think about 2415, do you?After all the touching up was finished, I had this beautiful pattern from which I will be embroidering a cap in crewel wools. That means two new caps on the go at once. I certainly won't be bored! I like the idea that I'll be doing two completely different techniques at the same time and it should provide interesting reading for all of you.When I was thinking about the finished product, I wondered if I should make two more caps or if it might be more interesting to stitch one panel of each and frame them. That decision hasn't been made yet but I'll certainly take your input! I always love help in making these decisions!As for colours, I haven't decided yet but I DO think that using either Heathway wool or Renaissance Dying crewel will be a better choice for this project than using Appletons. Both Heathway and Renaissance Dying crewel wools are finer than Appletons and I'll be working in a very small space, so thinner thread will help me to make more beautiful stitches.I'm currently reading a fascinating book by Dr. Susan Kay Williams on colour, entitled "The Story of Colour in Textiles". The book is widely available from major booksellers all over the world and I highly recommend it! It's entertaining as well as informative. This book will help me to determine which colour would have been available to embroiderers in the 16th century and I think I'll try to limit myself to those colours for this project.Working again on projects based on historical patterns has brought me back to one of the reasons I love embroidery - it's the connection with history, with all the people who came before us and embroider things that we still cherish today, who made someone's life more beautiful by creating a piece of art for them to cherish. I'm proud and grateful to be part of that tradition!