Friday Revision Homework - Stitches: 326 - 330

Phew! I finished my homework with less than half an hour to spare - soon it will be Saturday here in Japan.

On the internet, I found an illustration which I thought would make a good Sunbonnet Sue. 

Here she is on a freelance photo shoot with the Pueblo Indians. They let her try on one of the dance costumes, and it has a face mask!

To illustrate the revision stitches, I let Sue hold a stitch sampler of Pueblo geometric designs.

The question is, does she realise there are flames in the radiation grass behind her?

Sunday Stitch School - Revision: Stitches 326 - 330

Some of the five stitches we are going to review here are so simple, the only thing you need to know is how to make a Straight Stitch. Then add a bit of tweaking, and you have a variety of new stitches.

Click on the title to get to the stitch instructions.

#326 Alternative Cross Stitch

The name says it all - two types of Xs, one large and one small, make up this stitch.

#327 Fire Stitch

Isn't this a descriptive name?! You make it by placing two Straight Stitches leaning against each other.

The flames can also turn into grass or other things.

#328 Old Florentine Stitch

It was high time I added a Canvas Stitch. This is easy to make with two sizes of Straight Stitch.

#329 Radiation Stitch

This is a stitch that resembles an open hand-held fan. The more you open up the fan, the wider the stitch. Change the length of each Straight Stitch, and voila! new shapes take form.

#330 Pueblo Stitch

Instead of Straight Stitch, this is based on Back Stitch/Split Stitch and looks a bit like a Chain Stitch. 

Pueblo Stitch is best done slowly. Switching over the two coloured threads takes a bit of time before it becomes second nature. The result is a lovely braid.

Much has been written about the Pueblo Indians, their costumes and religious dances. Check out the Friday Homework page here.

Homework:

How will Sunbonnet Sue deal with the five stitches?

Friday Homework for Lesson 330: Pueblo Stitch (with some updates)

My friend Janie left a comment about the Pueblo Indians and the origin of the name of the stitch.

I searched the web and found:

Pueblo Indians are a group of Native Americans who live in the Southwestern United States, known for their distinctive, multi-story adobe villages commonly referred to as pueblos. They are descendants of the ancient Ancestral Puebloans (also known as Anasazi) and have a long history of settled agricultural life. Today, they reside primarily in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. 

Here is a link to Pueblo Indians' clothing.

In 'Ceremonial Costumes of the Pueblo Indians', which I have only had time to skim through, I found that 'heavy embroidery raises the surface and stiffens the garment...' on page 90. 

I didn't, however, note any information about a particular embroidery stitch. As Sunday Stitch School's  #330 Pueblo Stitch has a rich braided look, its 3D texture 'raises the surface...'.

Updated:  On pages 106 and 107 I found the following about Pueblo embroidery:

the embroidery was done by men, the cloth was stretched in a frame and the stitch was a simple Back Stitch, most of the thread was on the right side, picking up only a few on the underside.

If you are interested and have the time, please read this thorough description of the garments of the Pueblo Indians.

Janie also commented that she had heard Pueblo Stitch can also be called Split Ply Stitch. After some research, I found that there is a weaving technique with that name.

For an embroidery stitch, it also makes sense. 

Look what my dictionary says about PLY:

[usually in combination] a strand of yarn or rope: [as modifier] :  four-ply yarn. 

• the number of multiple layers or strands of which something is made: the yarn can be any ply from two to eight.

As the needle is loaded with two strands of thread and we are splitting those two strands for the Pueblo Stitch it makes sense to call Pueblo Stitch Split Ply Stitch. 
In my opinion, however, it would also apply to the ordinary Split Stitch as we are then splitting the two-ply twisted strand of a single strand of thread.
Isn't embroidery a most interesting subject?
.....................
My homework:

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth

Isn't Pueblo Stitch a most beautiful embroidery stitch?

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 330: Pueblo Stitch

 Do you remember #119 Alternating Magic Split Stitch and #120 Magic Split Stitch?

Today, we will learn Pueblo Stitch, which is quite similar.

Instructions for Pueblo Stitch can be found in many places, on YouTube and at Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials as well as at Arts&Design under Pueblo Stitch.

Q: So what differs between Alternating Magic Split Stitch and Pueblo Stitch? 

A: The placement of the needle!

Compare the picture of Alternating Magic Split Stitch with the photo of Pueblo Stitch.

In Alternating Magic Split Stitch, the tip of the needle 
comes out inside the previous 'Chain Stitch'.

In Pueblo Stitch, the tip of the needle comes out in the
hole just outside the 'Chain Stitch'. 

Here is my photo tutorial.

You need two threads of different colours on the needle.

Take a Back Stitch by splitting the threads, red on the left and blue on the right. 

Pull the threads through.

Change the threads over, blue on the left and red on the right. 

Take a Back Stitch and exit in the hole at the bottom of the 'Chain Stitch'.

Alternate by changing the coloured threads over.

Continue. Anchor the last stitch.

Homework:

Try to squeeze in a line of Pueblo Stitch on your samplers. The Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth is getting fuller and fuller. Is there any space left?