Friday Revision Homework - Stitches 186 - 190

Ever since I learned the origin of #187 Catherine Wheel Stitch, I knew it would be difficult to add it to the Sunbonnet Sue sampler. 

How were I to include such a stitch? Should I use just the beautiful design to make a vibrant sun or a magnificent flower, or should I stick to the true Catherine Wheel, the device of torture? 

Surely I could not let Sue be tied to the spiky wheel and turned over a burning fire?! 

Nor could I let her be the tyrant committing the atrocity. 

So she had to be a witness or a bystander, but Sue is a brave girl who would not just stand by and see something as horrid as this happen to someone else without taking action... 

I was really in a dilemma. Then I got the idea of using time and reality to show how horrified, how frustrated and how utterly helpless we can be when faced with a situation that we can't rectify.

What I finally decided on was this scene: Sue is at the Art Museum and comes face to face with an old painting. However much the picture pains her there is no way she can help the victim. 

Isn't this the way we feel when we watch cruelty on TV news and know that the act is already done, and maybe on the other side of the Globe in a place outside our reach?

Sunday Stitch School - Revision: Stitches 186 - 190

It is time to look back at the five stitches we have done recently.

Click on the title to see the instructions.

186 Stick People Stitch

Fun and easy. You can dress up or down the people.

187 Catherine Wheel Stitch

This is a beautiful combination of stitches, but the actual wheel it got its name from has much to answer for. 

188 Quaker Stitch

Perfect for lettering, but difficult to get even.

189 Tied Chain Stitch

Here is another example of how two stitches can combine into a really beautiful one.

190 Ring Knot Stitch

This is a 'LEGO' stitch - you can build all sort of things with it.

Homework:

Use the five stitches in a Sunbonnet Sue picture, based on this sketch.

Friday Homework for Lesson 190: Ring Knot Stitch

This stitch has turned out to be trickier than I first thought. First of all, it was really hard to do it on Aida. Better use a tightly woven fabric. Secondly, you need to know which part of the loop to keep steady. I hope the following photos will show how:

Place the thread over the needle, then pull the thread slightly towards you.

Tip the needle to shape a loop.

Put your finger on the red star, and tighten the working thread (yellow arrow).

Insert the needle as close to where it came out.

Pull through and tighten.

Aida Sampler

I had to anchor the loops with an extra stitch to keep the ring from becoming a real knot!

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 190: Ring Knot Stitch

The French Knot (TAST #15) is probably the most well known of all the stitches in the Knot Family.

Then there is the famous Colonial Knot #49 used for candlewick quilting.

We've also looked at Danish Knot #4

Chinese Knot #33

Carina's Knot Stitch #125

Plucked Knot #154

So today it is time for another knotty stitch, Ring Knot Stitch. This stitch I have seen before in a book about Chinese embroidery. According to it there are two versions, a tight one referred to as Chinese Knot. This stitch was used for lesson #33.

The other version is a ring, or loop, anchored by a knot, and we will be learning it today.

Shami, at My Craft Works, has a good tutorial for the loop version. Actually all her stitch tutorials are really professional with clear and easy to follow photos and instructions. Shami also suggests how to use each stitch, and supplies a design. The Ring Knot Stitch is perfect for flowers..

At Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials, another excellent collection of stitches, you will see a joint tutorial for the Chinese Knot and the Ring Knot Stitch. She calls both versions of the stitch Peking Knot

Confused? Is your brain in a knotty tangle?

Here they all are:

.........

Updated to clarify the instructions.

Make the Ring Knot Stitch like this:

Wrap the thread around the needle.

Insert the needle just above the exit,

without tightening the thread

into a tight knot. Instead make a loop.

Flip the loop over.

Press down on the thread where the red  

star is and pull the working thread 

(yellow arrow) to the size you want the

ring.

Pull the needle through to anchor the

thread.

To make a group of rings,

take the needle out nearby and

repeat.

Aren't they pretty?

Homework:

Add Ring Knots to your samplers.