Woven Stitches in Needlepoint

I was asked last week if woven stitches in needlepoint were put together in a family of stitches or if they got put into another, more well-known family.

As with many simple questions in needlepoint, the answer is “Not exactly.”

The stitches we call woven fall into three different types. Today we’ll define each types and look at examples of each. Tomorrow we’ll talk about stitch families and, using the same stitches we’ll classify them.

BTW (by the way) these aren’t any kind of official names, they are just how I think of these stitches.

Falling into Woven

These are stitches, such as all forms of Herringbone, where the weaving just happens because of the way you make the stitch.

Look at a single line of Herringbone, below. You’ll see that it’s formed of Cross Stitches, that cross each other at the ends. The crosses alternate sides of the stitch.

If Herringbone covers more than two intersections, there is also lots of open canvas. And that’s where the magic happens. To make the different Herringbones, you repeat the process of making lines of the stitch, moving over slightly with each pass, or “trip.”

Thus a Three-trip Herringbone has 3 trips, while a Six-trip Herringbone has six. It’s the uncrossed parts of each trip that start to create the weave. You can see this clearly by looking at each line in the stitch diagram below.

Norwich, or Waffle, is another example of this kind of stitch. As you create the stitch it look woven because of the order the stitches are made. The light gray stitches on the diagram below show the woven look of the stitch. You can emphasize different parts of this stitch by using different colors and threads within a stitch.

The Woven Look

There are many stitches that are not actually woven but they look woven. Remember that weaving is done by moving the weft thread over and under the warp threads in a specific pattern. If you’ve never thought about this, look at a piece of mono canvas, you’ll see the most basic weave, called Tabby.

If you have a stitch where it looks as if some stitches pass over others in a regular pattern, it’s a woven look stitch.

Let’s look at several.

Woven Plait has a lovely open look to it. It’s made up of diagonal stitches over two intersections that cross (this hiding) the break between two stitches in the opposite direction. That makes it look as if the diagonal lines are long stitches that go over and under stitches in the opposite direction. It’s one of my favorite stitches.

Double Linen has pairs of small straight stitches in each direction crossing each other. If there was only one stitch in each direction instead of two, this is often called ‘Basketweave on Top’ because it looks like the back of Diagonal Basketweave (Tent Stitch). It makes a delightful background for small pieces.

Lazy Roman is another stitch where stitches in the opposite direction cross the break between stitches. You often see this stitch done in two different colors, which mutes the woven effect. Notice that unlike Double Linen, there are two stitches in one direction, but only one in the other direction.

Straight T is a darning pattern done in two passes, one pass vertical, one horizontal. You can see the woven basket look easily with this stitch.

If you come across a stitch where you hear that it’s “great for baskets” chances are it’s a stitch like this because the weaves of baskets are so prominent.

Actual Weaving

Finally there are stitches that actually have portions where one stitch passes under another. That means they are actually woven to some extent.

The simplest of these stitches is Woven Cross. When you make it, the last stitch passes under the first stitch.

Probably the most popular of these stitches are Jean Hilton’s ‘string art’ stitches, now commonly called Hilton Stitches. Ranging from simple to complex, they must be done in a specific sequence and where new stitches cross old, they go under the older stitch.

Jessica, below, which forms circle is a simple Hilton Stitch.

If you are using stitches of this type in your stitching, be very careful when your needle passes under another stitch. Catching the older stitch, even if it isn’t noticeable, makes it extremely difficult to pull out your stitching.

Woven Stitches in needlepoint can give you some unusual looks, often without complex stitching. Consider them when you are looking for something new.