Melitastitches4fun's Blog

Linda went through all 4 of the Area Ds on Fibonacci Swirls by Olivia Hartshorn (from Needle Pointers Mar/Apr 2022) at our October meeting for our ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter.

The stitch that caused the most issues was for Area D1 (upper right). The Alternating Scotch stitches are over 3, and compensation is required. Not all of the compensation will be hidden by the swirls. The bigger issue for me is that the stitch is all overdyed thread, while the other 3 areas combine it with a solid color. So, I grabbed the nearest stitch book (Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren) and opened it from the back end (which is how my husband reads magazines for some strange reason). On page 96, I found the Hesitation Stitch. It’s a solid and overdyed combination stitch in diagonal, offset Scotch stitches over 3. Perfect!

The Hesitation Stitch really works best by keeping 2 needles working. Two needles were needed for Area D2’s Milanese stitch (bottom right). I don’t know which I find more challenging – working with 2 needles or compensation of these stitches. Olivia didn’t compensate correctly but Linda pointed out the areas we needed to be careful. I am 99.9% sure I got it right. And, if I messed up, I hope it’s on an edge getting covered by the swirls which will be next month’s lesson.

Here’s the colorway on Congress Cloth. This uses the same overdyed thread but cut and stitched to create color movements.

And, on canvas. I worked on this a couple of days before our October Stitch-in Saturday, at our Stitch-in, and a few days afterward during the World Series Games 1-5. Only the upper left area worked up easily and quickly. Bottom left were small stitches that were easy but not quick. I let the color flow as it wanted only in the top right area.

I’m all ready for the final installment, the swirls, at our meeting tomorrow night.