You Asked for It!

4-way pattern on paper inspired by Hawaiian quilts

When we did the Winter Questions and Answers (February 14, 2017), I mentioned that we had received so many questions asking for help with certain projects that we couldn't answer all of them in a single post. I promised to complete the instructions in the first post for the month of March, and here they are. First, let me inform everyone that there will be two posts (or possibly more) devoted to answering the question about 4-way designs. The first of these will appear later this month and will touch on such topics as Hawaiian quilts, reverse applique, and pencil-and-paper art. I hope you will enjoy these posts as much as I did preparing them for you.

This first section is for those of you who would like step-by-step illustrations of the Swedish weaving pattern. The pictures below show the top and middle sections of the design step-by-step. The colors are similar to — but not identical to — the yarns used in the needlepoint design. The colors were worked with six-ply embroidery floss, except for the two straight burgundy lines, which were done with three strands of craft thread (or you could use two strands of cotton crochet thread). For the bottom section of the design, turn your fabric 180°. Repeat the first section in reverse order. It was fun to convert one type of needlework into a very different one. It makes a point that I have made before — that patterns have multiple uses. Thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate that.

The next section is for those of you who wanted to do the little animal heads in needlepoint. Remember that each square represents a tent stitch ( / ). I have stitched the designs on #7 plastic canvas so that the stitches are easy to see. The designs are stitched in knitting worsted and back-stitched in a single strand of black crewel yarn. If you do them on #10 or #14 needlepoint canvas, they will be quite a bit smaller. This is good for repeated designs, either as a border or as an all-over spaced repeat. Done on quickpoint canvas, they will be quite a bit larger. I did not attempt to match the colors on the patterns except to assure that light and dark tones bear the same relationship to each other.

Tip: Some of the designs have been modified slightly to make them easier to do in needlepoint. The tent stitch traditionally starts at lower left and goes to upper right ( / ). In a number of cases I have used a reverse tent stitch that starts at the lower right and goes to upper left ( \ ). You can see this in the spaniel's forehead, the fox's ears and jaws, the owl's ear tufts, etc. Doing this sometimes causes a tiny piece of the canvas to show through. If you don't like this, put a traditional tent stitch underneath the back-slanted stitch.

As I stitch a design, I sometimes change small elements of the pattern to make a design that is more pleasing to me. I made the cat's mouth smaller and the terrier's nose larger on these two designs. That does not mean the revised designs are better than the original patterns. You may prefer the original pattern, or you may wish to make modifications of your own. Don't hesitate to change details to get results that you like better. To emphasize eyes and noses I do a cross-stitch instead of a tent stitch.

Occasionally I make larger modifications. When I first stitched this bear's head, I did not like the result at all, but found it difficult to determine why I disliked it. Finally I decided that the eyes and nose were too close together and the nose was not prominent enough. I added another row of stitches between the eyes and the nose and made the nose more noticeable. This had the effect of making the bear's head longer, so that it appears thinner than the one on the cross-stitch pattern. These are the kinds of decisions you must make as you stitch.

Below are some more small patterns suitable for borders or scattered all-over designs. Do them in straight stitches, back-stitch, and French knots in a single color for blackwork, redwork, or whitework, or in multicolor for Holbein embroidery. Or use what you have learned about making your own patterns to convert them to cross-stitch or tent stitch. The colors are simply suggestions. Use your own choices.

Let's have fun with these,

More Holbein stitch patterns, for butterflies, bugs, and leaves

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Winter Questions and Answers, 2017

A 'doodle' becomes a snowflake cross-stitch pattern

How do you develop complicated patterns like the A-B-C-D-E-F progression on the “Serendipity” post (January 15, 2017)?

I like to “doodle”; that is, to draw designs and little pictures while I take a coffee break, talk on the telephone, or watch television. A lot of people do that. The difference is that I like to do my drawing on a pad of graph paper, rather than on plain paper. I draw randomly until a combination of lines or shapes appeals to me. Then I start repeating that motif in different combinations. A geometric pattern just grows out from its center, as you saw in the example you mentioned. Curved designs are harder, as are realistic pictures, and may need to be be moved to plain paper for further development. I keep a lot of my “doodles” — even the ones that didn't turn out the way that I wanted them to do. I can always return to them, revise them, and improve them. If you are a “doodler” too, get a pad of graph paper and start working on patterns of your own. In the meantime, here is another progression (what a good name for it) that you might like. Instead of showing the steps separately, I have shown the steps in different colors, starting with a simple ‘X’ in a square.

Can the border at the top of the Serendipity blog be done in Swedish weaving?

I'm glad you asked that because it is something I hadn't thought about. It can't be duplicated exactly, and the pattern will not be as bold because it is done with floss instead of yarn, but a very similar pattern can be done and the positions and placements of the colors can certainly be duplicated. The needlepoint stitches are all slanted, while the weaving stitches may be straight stitches in any direction; they may even be looped stitches. The white background on the needlepoint must be filled with stitches. This is not necessary with the weaving, where the fabric background provides the white spacing. Finally, the weaving is done entirely on the surface of the fabric, while the needlepoint covers both the front and back of the canvas. You can see my pattern below. I really like the result. It would be attractive as a border or as repeated stripes on something like an afghan. I hope you like it as much as I do. Since you asked about Swedish weaving, I assume you are familiar with the technique and have probably used it. If not, you might want to read the posts for March 11, 2016; March 31, 2016; and October 31, 2016.

Swedish weaving sample, after the needlepoint from the "Serendipity" post

For those of you who like step-by-step directions for this pattern, those will be in a post in early March, after our annual anniversary post. We have had so many good questions and requests for additional help that we will need to do a special “Question and Answer” post to cover all of them. I'm so pleased when I can give additional help. Just keep watching for it.

I like the little animals at the bottom of the Serendipity article, but I don't understand how I am supposed to embroider them??? HELP!

Little animal cross-stitch patterns

First, let me “translate” them into cross-stitch patterns with back-stitch borders. Each square in the original design represents a cross-stitch (X) or a half cross-stitch (/ or \). A quarter cross-stitch extends from a corner to the middle of the stitch area. Because white pencil does not scan well, the white stitches are drawn in standard pencil. Refer to the original pictures for more information. Work all full, half, and quarter cross-stitches — including ones in black — before beginning the back-stitch outlines, which are done in black. If you embroider the designs on monks' cloth, Aida, or any even-weave fabric, they will be smaller than they appear on these charts. The smaller they are, the fewer strands of floss should be used.

Tip: The eyes of the owl are done in horizontal stitches or satin stitch. The beak may also be done in satin stitch. The nostrils are tiny French knots. The cat is shown in gray, but could just as easily be white, black, orange, yellow, or brown. Whiskers might be added in single strands of black or white thread.

For those of you who wanted additional help with doing the animals in needlepoint, that will be given in the March post also.

Do four-way designs have to be geometric designs?

The short answer is: Certainly not! The long answer is: an upcoming blog post for mid-March! I hope quilters and those of you who do pencil-and-paper art will enjoy this one as much as needlepointers and embroiderers. There is a "teaser" below.

Stitch away,

A distinctly non-geometric four-way design

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Swedish Weaving: Part 3

"Right" (top) & "Wrong" (bottom) sides

Swedish weaving, or “huck” weaving, is traditionally done on a closely woven cotton toweling fabric called “huck” (shortened from “huckaback”). If you If you examine the fabric closely, you will find that one side is rough to the touch, while the other side feels smooth. Since the purpose of a towel is to dry something, the rough side is the “right” side of the fabric. Look closely and you will see rows of raised stitches running horizontally across the cloth, perpendicular to the selvage edges (– – – – –). Turning to the smooth, or “wrong”, side of the cloth, you will notice pairs of upright (vertical) threads running parallel to the selvage edges (⌡⌡ ⌡⌡ ⌡⌡). these slightly loose threads are called “floats' or “slubs”. The “floats” alternate position in each row, so that one “float” that is directly above another is in the second row of stitches above it — not the first. It is with these “floats” that Swedish weaving is done. This makes it a rare type of embroidery done entirely on the “wrong” side of the cloth!

Horizontal and diagonal stitches

It has been several months since we discussed this topic, and some of you are new readers, so some of this material will be repetitive. We concentrated in the first two sessions (March 11, 2016 and March 31, 2016) primarily on horizontal stitches and diagonal stitches and the patterns which can be made with them. Vertical stitches were shown only as connections. These stitches, however, are decorative on their own. They are also useful in making tall, columnar patterns and four-sided designs. To make an upright (vertical) pattern stitch, run the needle right to left under the first float. Move up to the float directly above and again run the needle under the float from right to left. Continue until your column is the desired height. This produces a “wrapped” appearance to the stitches. A block of upright stitches gives texture to a design. Upright and horizontal stitches combine well. The red patterns will give you ideas for simple patterns you can do with this stitch. In the purple patter, each upward and downward vertical stitch skips a float in the center of the stitch.

The step stitch combines a horizontal stitch and a vertical stitch, and moves diagonally upward and downward across the fabric Multiple rows of this stitch produce interesting designs, particularly when a different color is used for each row. To do this most easily, begin with the bottom row of the design and work each following row directly above it. The rows can also be worked in reverse to make a larger more complex design. Do all the upper rows first. Then turn your fabric upside-down and repeat the pattern, starting once again with the bottom row. A diamond-shaped space is created in the design when it is done this way. If you like, you can put initials or tiny embroidery designs in these spaces.

A simple step-stitch pattern, repeated two different ways

 Another useful basic stitch is the loop stitch or circle stitch. Begin with one or more horizontal stitches. Slip your needle under a pair of floats from right to left. Point your needle in the opposite direction. Move up to the floats directly above the one you just worked. This time pass your needle from left to right. Return to the lower stitch and once again run your needle under the same floats from right to left. Pull the thread gently until it makes a loop or circle. Tension is very important with this stitch. If you leave the thread too loose, your stitches will be irregular and not look like even loops or circles. If you pull the thread too tight, you will distort (pucker) the fabric. Practice until it feels right. Spacing the loops differently in parallel rows makes different patterns. To make reverse loop- stitch rows, turn your fabric upside=down and proceed normally. Loop stitches and horizontal stitches combine attractively, as you can see in this border. Here the loops are alternated, with the top of each loop passing under the same float as the spacing stitch either above or below it. If you want to have even lines of loops, try them two ways: evenly spaced so that the loops intersect, or lines of loops spaced a row of floats apart so they do not intersect. You will be surprised how much difference this makes.

Aqua/turquoise loop-stitch design

There is another loop stitch that you might like, called half-loop stitch. It is used for up-and-down borders, stems, etc. Work from right to left, make a couple of horizontal stitches, and pick up a float. Then, working from left to right, insert the needle under the float directly above the one you just picked up, but complete only the right half of the loop by picking up the float above. Complete the left half of that loop by crossing under the middle float with the needle pointing from left to right. Complete the right side of the bottom loop, working under the first float again. You can make the column of loops as tall as you like by working in this back-and-forth manner. Make at least one horizontal stitch between loop columns. The stitch gets its name because it is made a half loop at a time. To make the pattern below, begin with a couple of straight stitches. Make a loop stitch and a spacer stitch, then make a column of two half-loop stitches. Continue making columns of half-loop stitches in increasing sizes, with spacing stitches between them, for as long as you like. Then repeat the stitches in the reverse order to the end.

Dark blue half-loop stitches

Finally, there is the long stitch. This is a very flexible stitch which can be used in a variety of ways. It is primarily used to create diamond shapes. In the top example, a long diagonal shape is created by skipping more floats horizontally than you skip vertically. One long-stitch row is worked across the design. Then a second long-stitch row is worked as a mirror-image of the first row. Where the rows intersect, both threads pass under the same floats. The second set of diamonds is more open and the diamonds are square. The same number of floats are involved, both vertically and horizontally.

Two kinds of diamond shapes

The weaving is done with a small tapestry needle. Tapestry needles have blunt points that can slip under the floats without breaking the float threads. The smallest needle that will hold the type of thread being used for the embroidery and slide under the floats without breaking them is the one to use. If the “weaving” is done properly, the needle never dips through the huck fabric and no stitches are ever seen on the other side of the cloth. (NOTE: This is not possible when doing the designs on other fabrics like monk's cloth or Aida; you will always see some thread on the reverse side of the cloth.)

Practice your stitches and patterns, please, because we will soon begin a project with them.

Have fun.

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Spring Questions and Answers 2016

Once again, Annake answers questions about recent posts...and don't miss the Free Download of the new Butterfly needle arts pattern at the end of this post!

Some old-fashioned poppies in the Garden

My question is for J.D. What are you growing in the straw bales?

Oh, good: an easy one! The straw bales are being planted with aromatic herbs (like basil, oregano, and marjoram) and pungent salad greens (like arugula and cress); basically, things the deer won’t like. We may try some other things later in the season, but that’s the plan right now.

(J.D., Annake’s Garden Gnome)

I received several questions about Swedish weaving patterns. I've shortened the questions for reasons of space, but added color descriptions so that you can easily find the examples the questions were about.

I have a question about a pattern from Part I (March 11, 2016). On the lower sample sheet, the fifth pattern from the top (red, black, and light green). In what order did you do the stitching? I can't tell from the enlarged photo.

First of all, thank you for looking at the enlarged sample. We use that feature (Lightbox) so you can study the patterns more easily. I hope all of you will take advantage of it. I've shown the design on plastic canvas to enlarge it even more. I did the red pattern row first, working from right to left. Next, I did the black pattern row, working from left to right. and paying close attention to the places where the two threads crossed. But I don't think it matters which one you do first because both colors pass under the two center threads. The first color sets the pattern. The second color — black in this case — passes under the first color at each crossing. To make the pattern more decorative, you might sew a tiny seed bead at each of the crossings. Finally, I put in the green row, again working from right to left. In this version, the green thread passes under the crossed stitches each time. To change the pattern slightly, make the green thread pass over the pairs of threads that the red and black threads pass under, and under the pairs that they cross over. This will make the green thread pass over the crossing threads.

Swedish weaving sample 1

On the top pattern sample sheet (on the same post), I have a question about the top pattern (purple, lavender and pink). Are the long parallel stitches that look like ‘11’ part of the outside rows top and bottom, or are they from the next rows inside?

They are from the inner rows. They skip the top row and go under the two threads one row further out than the “points” on the top and bottom rows. This pattern is stitched from the two outside rows inward, ending with the pink center row. Here the stitches are on plastic canvas.

Swedish weaving sample 2

I have a question from Part II (March 21, 2016) about the rows of (orange) diamonds at the bottom of the top sample chart. It looks to me like the two top rows of diamonds are made at the same time, while the last row is just a single one. Why isn't it a double row, too?

You are making this pattern much more difficult than it really is. No two diamonds are made at the same time. In fact, each diamond is made one half — either the top half or the bottom half — at a time. Each row is a line of simple “peaks and valleys”. They go together in a way that creates an optical illusion. I began at the right-hand side and made the first row with a stitch slanting upward. I then ran my needle under the two threads, made a corresponding stitch downward, ran my needle under the next pair of threads, and continued to the end of the row. The next row was worked from left to right and made the bottom halves of the diamonds. The two halves were held together at each side by running the needle under the same threads it went under on the row above. I've shown the diamonds on plastic canvas, but I used one bar on the canvas to represent the pair of threads on the huck fabric. When I tried that using two bars of canvas, the diamonds were distorted by the spacing and no longer looked very much like diamonds. The pattern is really quite easy and covers the cloth rapidly, as you will find if you practice it.

Swedish weaving sample 3

  
Are you going to show us more of the “mola” applique designs?

Small Cuna mola

Yes. I have several more of the authentic Cuna Indian molas from my collection that I want to show you. In addition, I will be doing another reverse applique pattern with felt, but this time I will be inserting other kinds of fabric into the felt framework to add textures like satin and velvet to the finished design. I think you will enjoy this new activity.

Why will a six-way bargello pattern be more difficult than the eight-way design was?

Four-way bargello "Green Envy"

Good question. The answer is in the angles. We won't be working in a square any more. The four-way bargello projects were based on 90 degree angles (0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees, 360 degrees), and depended on the horizontal and vertical center lines on the canvas.

Eight-way bargello

The eight-way design was based on 45 degrees (0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, 180 degrees, 225 degrees, 270 degrees, 315 degrees, 360 degrees), and depends also on the diagonal lines from the four corners of the square.

Hexagon plotted for six-way bargello

The six-way design, however, will be based on a 60 degree angle (0 degrees, 60 degrees,120 degrees, 180 degrees, 240 degrees, 300 degrees, 360 degrees). The design must be constructed along each axis from the degree mark to the center. I haven't yet decided whether to use a hexagon or a circle to enclose the design. When I get the pattern worked out, I will do a sample and write a new post describing how to make it.

I appreciate your questions.

Click here to download!

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Swedish Weaving: Part II

Vintage Swedish weaving example

Here is another example of Swedish weaving or huck embroidery. It is worked selvage-to-selvage on pale pink huck toweling in red and shades of violet embroidery floss. It could easily have been done with other materials, such as cotton crochet thread or fine acrylic yarn. As you can see, the patterns of spires are worked alternately in both directions. A square this size is suitable for a decorative pillow top.

Below are more patterns done on huck toweling. Some are linear, while others are all-over designs. You can repeat elements of a design indefinitely to make wider borders or cover larger pieces of fabric. You can also combine elements of two or more designs to make a more intricate design. Try several. Who knows? You may come up with a unique design of your own.

Sampler, Swedish weaving on huck

If you don't have appropriate fabric on which to practice your stitches, try doing them on plastic canvas. Look closely at the samples of pattern darning shown below. See how the two exposed bars of plastic resemble the two “floats” on the huck fabric? Note how this very simple design changes when you do it in one, two, or three colors. You can practice many linear designs on plastic canvas. Your samples will be durable and easy to file for future reference. Also, it is easy to pull the yarn out if you make a mistake. Diagonal designs are more difficult, but many can be done with a little practice.

Sampler, Swedish weaving on Aida cloth

In the first post of this series, I mentioned in the introduction that this type of embroidery could be done on a number of fabrics other than huck toweling. My first choice for this would be Aida cloth. The fabric seen here is #14 Aida, the most popular and readily available kind. It comes in a large range of colors. It is most commonly used for counted cross-stitch, but is useful for a number of other techniques. The set of stitch patterns on this piece of gold Aida were adapted from samples used in describing Holbein embroidery. Be careful with the pattern done in orange: it is more difficult than it seems.

Needle technique on Aida cloth

To make the stitches, run the tip of your needle under the small squares made by the weave of the Aida cloth, just as you would under the “floats” of the huck. Some needleworkers recommend that you pick up only the center pair of threads in each square, to make it more like picking up the huck “floats”. You may want to try this for yourself. At this small scale, I prefer to pick up the entire square of four threads. The fabric is double-layered, allowing you to keep all your stitches on the surface of the fabric as you do with huck. It takes some practice, however, to pick up only the top layer of threads, leaving the bottom layer undisturbed. It is important to keep your stitches level as you do repeat motifs like the stepped diamonds done in green on the gold Aida. Because the squares on the Aida cloth are so small, it is easy to accidentally move up or down and stitch in the wrong row. I use my needle as a “pointer” to check that my stitches are in their correct row. I check both horizontally and vertically. Now I would like to revisit two of the patterns from the first post in this series.

Swedish weaving pattern with large open spaces

Patterns like this, which leave part of the background exposed, are very useful for adding monograms or names to towels, linens, inserts for clothing, etc. Just embroider a single letter in each open space, using your choice of embroidery stitches. Words, too, can be decorative — particularly when framed. Some years ago it was quite popular to place colorful and decorative signs everywhere, encouraging everyone to “THINK!” Perhaps that is an idea whose time has come again. Why not do it in embroidery? A future post will be on the subject of the decorative possibilities of words.

Here is another simple open-work pattern which can be adjusted to the size you desire simply by adding or subtracting stitches. It could be used for words, phrases, or even entire signs. Place punctuation marks in the same spaces with the letter they precede or follow. Another use for this type of space is to frame tiny cross-stitch or other embroidery motifs (like the Holbein “doodles” you can download from the August 20, 2014 post).

Simple pattern to use for "framing"

Stitch away!

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