My Favorite Canvas Mesh

Today’s Craft in June post is supposed to be about our favorite medium. Since that’s needlepoint for me (no duh), I thought I’d talk about canvas.

One big thing that has changed about needlepoint is our perception of what’s “normal” in canvas. Throughout the 70’s and into the 80’s 10 and 12 mesh was thought of as normal. 18 mesh was considered petitepoint. Honest to God, you can look it up.

By the mid 80’s this was changing and 18 mesh became common, then it became the normal canvas mesh.

What does this mean to you as a stitcher. When larger meshes were most popular needlepoint was done mainly with Persian wool. This wool had uneven plies so a single strand would not work on 18 mesh.

Along with the popularity of 18 mesh came an explosion of threads made to work on this mesh.

Today 13 mesh is becoming more popular. I think that’s a combination of many threads working on it with it being easier to see.

I’ll work on pretty much anything up to 20 mesh (I can’t see smaller mesh), but my favorite mesh of canvas is 16 mesh. I like that it’s almost 18 mesh but easier to see. Being between 14 and 18 mesh, just about any thread works on it.

Unhappily, few canvas designers use this mesh. You’ll need to do counted canvas projects or design your own pieces, but try it — you’ll love it.