Criss-cross Hungarian is one of my favorite stitches, but it has some flaws. Between the stitches there are open intersections. Yes, you can leave them bare, yes, you can cover the with cross stitches, yes, you can add beads.
But sometimes none of these is quite right.
So I developed a stitch I call Inside-out Criss-cross Hungarian. It has units of three stitches that cross each other, creating the non-directional texture of the stitch. But the units are long-short-long instead of the short-long-short of Criss-cross Hungarian.
It’s diagrammed above.
Something magical happens when you do this. Instead of open intersections, you have open holes. And, if the thread is thick enough, as is the case with the knitting yarn I used here, it covers completely. Here it even covered the white of the bare canvas at the edge.
It’s a good stitch to know.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
It is a great stitch, isn’t it! I first came across it when I did Jean Hilton’s Puzzle Purse. I have done it all in the same thread, but I also did a couple of patches on the Puzzle Purse with 2 different threads, and that looks great. I don’t think I have ever done “criss cross Hungarian”, only this reverse hungarian variety.
Great stitch – I’ll give it a try!
Your Inside-out Cris-cross Hungarian stitch is shown in Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson’s “Stitches to Go”. It’s on p.49 and is called woven trellis variation. It is in their “More Stitches for Effect” on p.65. In this book, they give suggestions for thread and places where the stitch might be used.
Double Trellis is the two long stitches without the middle stitch. By including the short stitch and having all the stitches in the same thread, the trellis effect, as you can see from the picture, pretty much disappears. If you want to see the trellis make the middle stitch in a different thread or color.
Keep Stitching,
Janet