There was a question asked about whether I sometimes do half stitched, then come back and complete the stitch or whether I always make the full X.
The half stitch would be when just one side of the “X” is done and they would look like this:
/ / / /
Then, I would go back and stitch the other side, completing the stitch:
/ / / X X
If I’m using an overdyed floss, which adds shading to the stitching, I would make the complete “X” for each stitch. By making half stitches and going back to complete the full “X”, the shading is almost always lost. There are exceptions. I like to stitch from right to left doing the sewing stitch.
Using Cranberry Christmas as an example, which, before you ask . . it still is not finished; I had already stitched the trunks of the trees and when I went to stitch the trees, instead of counting the spaces over to start the right edge of the bottom branch 10 stitches to the right of the trunk, I started stitching at the trunk and made half stitches to the right side of the branch, then came back and crossed them to the center. That finished all the half stitches so then I made complete stitches to the left side of the branch.
If using a floss that has no variation in color, which would be most DMC, Anchor, etc., you could make half stitches but I find that when I have to rip, it’s easier if I’ve done full stitches, especially if I only need to rip out one small area.
In the end, I don’t think there’s any 100% right way or 100% wrong way. Just do it whatever way makes you happy.
Linda B says
Thank you for the explanation. Especially about the over dyed floss. I still have so much to learn.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
You’re welcome but we all have so much to learn. When we stop learning . . well, let’s not go there! 🙂
That’s why I always say “I only know what I know.” It’s like the determinate vs. indeterminate potatoes! I never had any idea so how would I have known I needed to learn something new about growing potatoes. Now, I see it on bags and on websites and I had never noticed it before.