Rhodes Heart

It's almost Valentine's Day and the perfect time to show you one of my favorite stitches: the Rhodes Heart. In truth, there are many versions of this, but here's the simplest one.

Frog Stitch

Everyone makes a mistake now and then, even the most experienced stitcher.  That's when the "Frog Stitch" is invoked to "rip it, rip it."

The most important thing to keep in mind is to avoid cutting the canvas when you're ripping out a mistake.  If you can't remove the mistake by "unstitching" with a needle in the reverse sequence they were stitched, you'll have to cut the stitches.

Using a bent tip scissors lifts the stitches up and away from the canvas, thereby reducing the chance you'll cut the canvas.

Once the stitches are cut,  pull them out with a pair of tweezers.  The kind  you use to tweeze your eyebrows works pretty well.  A tool called "Uncle Bill's" tweezers, available at your LNS and outdoor sporting shops, is also very good.  The points are sharp and you can lift stitches with them without cutting the canvas.

In any case, relax, take your time, and look forward to getting it right the next time.

Diagonal Brick/Byzantine Variation/Condensed Byzantine

This versatile stitch works well for almost everything!

It's a diagonal stitch, but the overall effect is non-directional.  It can be done over two or more diagonal intersections in one, two or more colors.

I've used it for bells, toys, clothing, furniture, architectural features, animals, plants, and even fur on Santa's coat.

Needlebugs

I don't know if I like this stitch because of its name or because it works so well for so many things! It's especially good for clothing. Use floss or some other flat fiber for the white stitches then fill in the black with metallic for a snazzy coat.

Dotted Swiss Stitch

Dotted Swiss is such a pretty, versatile stitch. I usually do the basketweave stitches first (those shown in gray) and then go back and do the crosses (shown in black lines). The stitch can be worked in one or two colors. If done in two colors, all the foundation stitches can be one color and the crosses in another, or all three stitches used to make the crosses can be the same color.

When my daughter was a little girl, I made her a yellow dress with a dotted Swiss fabric overlay. It was so pretty that I kept it! It reminds me of how sweet she looked in it and how she loved to twirl around to make the skirt flare out.

Oval Jessica

The last few stitches of the oval Jessica, shown in yellow in the diagram, are woven under the prior stitches.

An oval Jessica:

		16 /29	14 /27	12 /25	10 /23	8 /21
		18 /31						6 /19
	20 /33								4 /17
22 /35										2 /15
	24 /37								13 /40
		26 /39						11 /38
			1 /28	3 /30	5 /32	7 /34	9 /36

Starting with stitch 35-36, stitches go under previous stitches.

The Gobelin is another fundamental that everyone should have in their repertoire. Unlimited uses!

Brick Stitch

The Brick Stitch has many variations: horizontal, vertical, single, double, triple, over two, over four, etc., etc. It works in backgrounds, clothing, buildings, nature and almost anything else where a bit of texture is desired.

Basketweave Stitch

Scotch Stitch