LAS Mini-Sock – Potpourri III

This post from the archives is reposted as part of the Blast from the Past series. New content will return October 3, 2013.

I made this mini-sock because I just love the shade of Watercolours used here, Blue Spruce. I like that combination of icy teal and pink, although this skein didn’t have much pink in it.

You’ll notice that the patches on this mini-sock are different than the ones we have been using. There are six here, so use this outline (click for the full-size template). If you want to use the other outline, just leave out one of the patches.

Patch 1 – Double Straight Cross

This popular Cross Stitch gets lots of texture from using two very different threads: rayon and Very Velvet. Although both crosses are exactly the same, the different weights of the threads makes it look almost as if the rayon crosses are a grid over the bulkier velvet. It’s a neat effect.

Patch 2 – Flemish Bond

This straight stitch consists of different patterns in alternating rows. Every other row consists of groups of three Horizontal Gobelins over three threads. The other row consists of pairs of alternating horizontal
and Vertical Gobelins of different lengths. The horizontal stitches are over two threads while the vertical stitches are over three threads. It creates a complex pattern.

Although you can make this stitch by making all the horizontal stitches in one pass, followed by all the vertical stitches, I make it one row at a time.

Patch 3 – Linenfold

This stitch gets its name from a type of carved paneling popular in Tudor England. It’s alternating columns of Diagonal and Horizontal Gobelin. Although I have seen versions of this stitch with columns of many different widths, usually one column, using Horizontal Gobelin is significantly wider than the other column.

I always think of the wide columns as the linen and the narrow columns as the folds. Here it is stitched using Needlepoint, Inc. silk.

Patch 4 – Pavement Stitch

This stitch is a combination of Mosaic, Cashmere, and Scorch stitches. I stitched it in three threads but it is equally lovely in one or two. Its name comes from the way it looks like fancy stamped pavement. The stitches are reversed in the mini-sock and are done in Kreinik metallic, rayon, and Very Velvet.

Patch 5 Arrowhead Scotch

In this Scotch Stitch variation a line of Tent Stitches along two edges is done in a different thread, so that the main part of the Scotch looks like an arrow. I think the effect is more pronounced in some threads than others. Here, it’s just a nice pattern, stitched in Watercolours and Kreinik.

Patch 6 – Loire

This stitch is a variation of Double Parisian Stitch. Instead of alternating blocks of two long stitches and two short stitches. It alternates blocks sizes as well. This creates alternating rows of two long and one short, or one long and two short. The Frosty Rays used here kind of mutes the stitch pattern.