Even though I do a lot of stitching I always to go to my favorites and since I seemed to have shared most of my go to stitches, I thought I would venture out into my books and the internet and look for a new stitch to me and possibly to you. I came across the Tweed stitch in my “Stitches to Go” book, a must have for all stitchers and then I went to the web and found a variation.
In the first diagram the base stitch of the Double Straight Cross is done over 6 threads with them touching both vertically and horizontally and the Cross stitch is in the center over 2 threads of the base stitch. Once you complete that pattern you can then add the accent Cross stitches. As a general rule I don’t always like such open stitches because I feel it always looks like I forgot to stitch it. I would try using this stitch in a large area or use as the background of my canvas. I would play around with different threads such as an over-dyed with a coordinating color, metallic threads or ribbons to see what type of effect I could achieve.
In the Tweed Variation, shown below, the base of Double Straight Cross is stitched over 4 threads with the center Cross stitch over 2. In this stitch the Double Straight Cross stitches don’t touch and the accent Cross stitches are placed in between 4 Double Straight Cross stitches. I think this variation would be a great stitch for snow. Give them a try. I know I will.
Happy Stitching – Stephanie