Eight-Point Woven Star

Here’s another interlaced stitch for you to try – you might find it handy for Christmas decorations and cards.

The instructions look daunting, and the first few may seem very tricky to work. But once you’ve got the idea, you’ll find the stars quick to stitch. I suggest practising on Aida fabric with a fairly thin thread until you are confident, then you can try working on other evenweave fabric or just using a circle of 8 holes made in thin card.

Here’s the chart – I’ve used different colours simply to show the weaving clearly:

A (yellow): bring the needle out at 1 and in at point 4.

B (orange): out at 3, over stitch A and in at point 6.

C (red): out at 5, over stitch B and in at 8

D (pink): out at 7, over stitch C, under stitch A and in at 2

That’s the first half done.

E (violet): out at 1, over stitch D, under stitch C and in at 6.

F (dark blue): out at 7, under stitch E, over stitch C, under stitch B and in at 4.

G (light blue): out at 5, under stitch F, over stitch B, under stitch A and in at 2.

H (green): out at 3, under stitch G, over stitch A, under stitch D, over stitch E and in at 8.

And that’s it.

There’s a pattern to the weaving: the first stitch has no unders or overs, the second and third have just one over, the fourth and fifth have and over and then an under, the sixth and seventh have an under, an over and a second under, and the eighth has an under, and over, a second under and a second over.

Here’s the stitch, with an eyelet worked in the centre, used on a very simple card design:

The thread here is Gütermann W331 glittery machine embroidery thread, but the sparkle doesn’t show in this poor photo (there’s almost no daylight today).

I’m sure you can think of lots of ways to use this stitch, and find ways to vary it.

 

 

 

 

In other news, the sale of Dad’s house seems to have stalled again, which is annoying. The weekend of the 11th to 14th November, I was at Novacon science fiction convention in Nottingham, and had a very pleasant, relaxing time. Juliet McKenna was a fine Guest of Honour, not just talking about books and writing, but giving an Akido self-defence demonstration. It was very good to catch up with old friends and we had a fine Chinese banquet on the Sunday night.

I did well in the art show, with only one piece left unsold. That helped to pay for my stay. Here’s my display of pictures, and my table with some bookmarks and (inevitably) a stitched box:

This year was my 25th consecutive Novacon, and I’ve already signed up for next year’s.