Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 17: Q Stitch

The needle lacing stitch of last Sunday was a bit of a challenge. So for this week the stitch is an easy one - the Q Stitch.

Never heard of it? I must confess I haven't either. If you have, and know its real name, please leave a comment below.

Until now I have presented the stitches in an alphabetical order and we have reached Q.
I have found two stitches beginning with this letter, the Queen Stitch, better known as Rococo Stitch and Quick Stitch, which is a woven stitch.
Instead of using either, this time I played with the idea of forming a stitch in the shape of the letter Q.

Well, a Detached Chain Stitch with loose tension and anchored with a tilted tail would make a capital Q, wouldn't it?

Work it like this:

 and you get a Q!

A row of Qs on Aida.

Homework:
A lesson in penmanship!
Practice your Qs.

Friday Homework for Lesson 16: Puncetto Valsesiano Stitch

Teacher:   It's Friday, so hand in your homework!
Student:   Yes, Miss.
Teacher:   Hm, what's this then?

Student:   Hm, I don't know. It's supposed to be Puncetto Valsesiano Stitch.
Teacher:   Hm. Remind me, what was the set homework?
Student:   Pay attention to the tension, the twist and leave enough room in each knot to insert the needle on the return journey.

Stitch something high and lacy, 

and in the style of free form, 

and on plain cloth.

Teacher:   Well, have you paid attention to the tension and the twist?

Student:    Well, Miss, I have tried to. I certainly rolled the needle and sometimes let the needle and thread dangle to untwist itself, just as I was taught in the lesson.

Teacher:    Did you leave enough room in each knot to insert the needle?

Student:    Well, Miss. I tried to, and I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I think your instruction was wrong.
Teacher:    My instruction was WRONG???!!!
Students:  Yes, I am sure you meant 'leave enough room BETWEEN the knots'

Teacher:    Oh! So that is how you explain the unevenness of these stitches?

Student:    It WAS difficult to see where to insert the needle. It might also be due to poor lighting and my poor eyesight.

Teacher:   Hm, so in your opinion this stitch needs a good source of light and a magnifying glass.

Student:    ... or a microscope.

Teacher:   What's that? Speak up!

Students:  Well, it WAS difficult to see.

Teacher:    OK. Now did you stitch something high and lacy?
Student:    I stitched some areas high, like this white 'object'. I did not stitch any lace, but I made some holes, and look on the right, this is almost a face.

Teacher:   Hm. Well, I can see that you have stitched on plain fabric and in the style of free form.
Student:   This stitch reminds me of stump work and I think it could be used for a knitted stumpwork sweater, a muffler, even a funky hairstyle or a disastrous perm....
Teacher:   Hm, I'd say you need much more practice before you have mastered needle lace making. However, these 'objects' would make an interesting piece of modern free form embroidery or indeed a stump work portrait, and as the stitch was to be used as a 3D embroidery stitch, I'll accept it.
Student:   So I don't have to do my homework again?
Teacher:  No, you don't need to, but should you find the time, I'd be happy to see you use this stitch again in a creative way.

WIPW - Tagliatelle con Spinaci

Work In Progress Wednesday for this week is about cooking!

For the
Trinity Green
quilt I have been making Tagliatelle con Spinach, or spinach tagliatelle pasta.

'Rolling out' the dough with a hot iron, and cutting the 'fresh' pasta with a 'pizza' rotary cutter.

No, that is a joke! I have been pressing green cotton fabric, and with rotary cutter and ruler cut long strips. What you can not see in the picture, because I have no photo of it yet, are the small pieces of gold fabric I have been added to the joints of this long 'ribbon'.

Next step is to stitch this to the 'snakes' with green triangles.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 16: Puncetto Valsesiano Stitch

Welcome to another lesson at Sunday Stitch School. What's on offer today? Well, I thought it was time to play with a needle lacing stitch.

Only a needle and some thread is needed to make the decorative Puncetto Valsesiano needle lace from the Valsesia region in Northern Italy. Most commonly it is worked in white, but the Mastallone Valley folk costumes are often decorated with coloured PV needle lace.

Interested to know more? Read this article by Google Arts & Culture.

Instead of making a lace doily, snow flake square or parts of a folk costume, I want to use the Puncetto Valsesiano Stitch as a 3D embroidery stitch.

Work it like this:
 First fold the fabric you are working on and stitch right on the fold.

First work from left to right.

To make an open space skip a few stitches while leaving a loop of thread.

When it is time to work the second row don't turn the work over, instead stitch from right to left. Go between the knots, not catching any of the fabric this time.

Work new knots on the loops on the return journey.

Work the third row left to right by inserting the needle between the knots.

A note on the twist of the thread. In the examples above I have used perle 8 which has an S twist. (Read more about S and Z twists at Needle 'n Thread.)

When you stitch from left to right with an S-twisted thread, the thread twists itself a bit tighter. When you stitch from right to left (on the return journey) the thread untwists itself. 

In both cases, you need to either let the needle and thread dangle for a short time to regain the right twist, 

or 

you need to learn to roll the needle between your thumb and index finger in a clockwise and anti clockwise direction.

Anti clockwise for left to right stitches.

Clockwise on the return journey.

It IS confusing! With practice you can control the twist 'automatically'.

Homework:

Pay attention to the tension, the twist and leave enough room in each knot to insert the needle on the return journey.

Stitch something high and lacy, 

and in the style of free form, 

and on plain cloth.