Leftover Threads and The Arte Johnson Stitch

April 16, 2021, 7:15 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

My bargello design for Step 4 of EGA’s Master Craftsman program is on it’s way for evaluation and I had so much thread left over that I decided to try The Arte Johnson stitch. Yes, Arte from Laugh-In. I didn’t know that he was a stitcher. But, he came up with this way to use up his scraps of threads. I wasn’t sure if I had enough threads from the Star of Stitches project to use them. So, I selected an overdyed thread from my stash and not even a third of the threads from my EGA project.

I read about this scrap busting technique in Janet Perry’s blog, Nuts About Needlepoint (https://nuts-about-needlepoint.com/youll-be-laughing-at-the-way-this-stitch-uses-stash/); Susan Sturgeon Roberts’ blog Needlepoint Teacher (https://www.needlepointteacher.com/stitches/numbered-a-b/arte-s/); and Jan’s blog Needle arts and Beyond (https://needleartsandbeyond.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/artes-stitch-needlepoint/). Then, I remembered that I tried it in small samples when I tested several techniques recommended in “A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That” by Linda Damiani (Dec 2017 original post). I wasn’t thrilled with how it turned out perhaps because I didn’t like combining different thread types in a needle.

The stitch is either a Cashmere (2×3) or an Elongated Cashmere (3×5). Either way, they are worked in diagonal rows. This time I’ll try it with the Vineyard Merino which can’t be doubled in the needle anyway. Up close I won’t get the tweed effect but perhaps from a distance I’ll obtain an Impressionistic, watercolor effect.

I cut 18″ lengths and put two of each color in a bag. As my husband pulled them randomly from the bag to determine the stitching order, I placed them on a thread holder.

The 18″ length only got me 6 Cashmere units of the 3 x 5 variety. So, I stitched one complete row to get started. For the second row, I started back up the third row. Then, I started varying the number of stands before switching colors.

Maybe I’ll try a smaller piece and see how it works with the 2 x 3 Cashmere and the Star of Stitches leftover threads.

Before starting my next Gay Ann Rogers piece, I am happy to have some mostly mindless stitching for a while. All I have to decide is how many lengths of thread to use before switching colors.