More Boring Cross Stitch....

OK.  I only had a comment from one person that does their cross stitch this way.  It was Rosanna from   http://lastanzadigiuggiola.blogspot.com/ She does some of the loveliest mini stitchery.  Go see her blog.

She also worked it out for herself and came up with the same solution.

Someone did want to see the uphill version, so I am putting that in today.

First step, start coming out of the top left corner, just like the horizontal version.  Again, run the needle parallel with the top thread of the canvas.

I didn't explain the reason for this yesterday.  By putting the working thread beneath the cross thread and parallel to the top canvas thread, it locks the stitch in place and it won't slide sideways as it sometimes does with other methods.  I hate to have to work the thread back to the diagonal before crossing it. The other advantage is, once you get the hang of it, you won't have to block your work either.  No diagonal slants. 

Second step is a diagonal. This one is just to get you back into starting position for the next X.  

Once you are there, you do one short vertical stitch. on the right side. 

That forms the first half of your second stitch.

Then you do a two thread vertical stitch on the left to complete the X and get in position #1 once again.

To do the diagonal stitches that you see in the border, I simply used the stitch that would make my thread parallel to the top thread of the canvas, repeating as needed...Still always starting in the top left of the stitch. 

Here you can see how uniform the stitches are when you stick to that rule.

For anybody that is interested in where the design for this rug came from, here it is.  This is another of the Dover books.

The copyright date in it is 1975...You can tell by the colors on the cover...The cover is detached...Falling apart. It has been well loved.  I even made a full sized rug from one of the designs in it long ago.

It was originally published in Europe in 1604, so the designs in it can be legitimately be made into rugs and other needlework items from that date to the present.

I messed with the design a bit.  I simply slid the boxes down so that they were parallel and added an extra row.  I added the zigzag border for interest and may still carry it further out.

I finished six of the inner boxes after hunting for a couple of the colors of thread that I had hidden with other rugs.  I also finished some of the strapwork running between the boxes.  Now that I have all of the kinks worked out, it shouldn't take too long to finish.  Designing as you go, can be fun....

See you tomorrow.