This charming small cross design uses Scotch and Reverse Scotch Stitches in one or two colors to make the design. You might be wondering about the name for this black-and-white cross that is split down the middle. It’s named for one of my outside cats. She a tortoiseshell and her face is half ginger and half black. I was thinking about what to call her, but all the half-and-half names I could think of were boy’s names. Then I thought of the Roman god Janus, the two-faced god. He’s also the god the month of January is named for because his faces look both back and forward.
The guy’s version of his name is Januarius. So I turned it into a feminine form. Hence Januaria.
It is a very striking design. If you want to turn it into a square block, be sure to split the background into two colors as well, along the diagonal. I stitched it in Gentle Arts floss for the white in Picket Fence and Etoile in black. Clock the chart to see it full-size.
Isn’t it a fun design?
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
Add another block worked in tent stitch to form a bottom, and turn it into an elegant little box.
Great idea, thanks!
Keep stitching,
Janet