Using Alternating Cashmere Pairs Stitch

Yesterday I explained how Alternating Cashmere Pairs are stitched so that you can use this lovely stitch on a project of your own if you are so inclined.  Pamela asked me how I handled compensation and said that the blocks weren't oriented the same way I diagrammed them.  I'd already planned to cover these comments in another posting (I was running out of time to write and the article was getting rather long anyway) and here it is.

Light Coverage Alternating Cashmere Pairs
First, let me review what I'm stitching.  My canvas is 13 count and I used two plies of the darker chocolate brown Splendor silk and two plies of the lighter chocolate with cream Mandarin floss.  This doesn't really cover the background.  I don't care as I prefer light coverage stitches that allow some of the underlying canvas to show but you may want to bulk up your plies of thread for your canvas.  Do a test first.  You'll need anywhere from 4 to 8 plies to cover well but the exact amount of thread depends on the color of your thread and your canvas and your own stitching tension.

Use a Laying Tool
Note that I am using a laying tool as I work.  I consider this is necessity as my flosses reflect light beautifully if they are laid straight with a laying tool.  You can use one or not, but believe me, if you use one with this stitch, it'll look a lot better.  (If you aren't familiar with laying tools, use the search bot at the upper left hand corner and type "laying tools" to see what I've written about them.  There are links to tutorials on their proper use here on Blog and that's the fastest way to find them.)

Keeping Light Coverage Stitches Secure
One of the most common problems you will find when you do light coverage stitches is that the threads on the back will loosen and rise up on the front because you can't tie them off the way you do normally.  The way around this is to tie a knot in your two plies and thread them under previously stitched cashmere blocks, then pull tightly and stitch.  This takes care of starting the stitch but what about tying off on the back side?  You have to do an L locking stitch before you thread the loose ends under a previously stitched cashmere block on the back side.  These L locking stitches are just a tiny vertical stitch over one thread with another tiny stitch done horizontally into a shared hole.  Then thread the loose ends under the back.  The L locking stitch will help keep the loose ends from coming out.

How to Compensate Alternating Cashmere Pairs
You can see in the photo above that my Alternating Cashmere Pairs thread colors change roughly when the paint color of the background changes.  Pamela asked how I decided when to change the thread color.  It isn't easy to know when to stop with light brown and start dark brown during one cashmere block (and vice versa). Mostly I continue with my current color if the color change is just 1-2 stitches.  If half the block is one color and the other half another, I change my thread color to match.  I generally don't want a long stitch to be made up of one dark brown tent stitch and the rest the light brown.  I think that looks messy.  It doesn't look odd to just cover that one dark brown stitch with light brown thread, making the whole line of thread one color.  Your eyes will adjust the colors in your brain.  But otherwise, trust your instincts.  If it looks ok, it is.

Keeping Alternating Cashmere Pairs Oriented Correctly
This is very hard for me.  I'm mildly dyslexic and also am constantly interrupted as I stitch.  I also tend to stitch at night when I am tired, not in the mornings when I am fresh and rested.  I just keep checking that things are right when it comes to having a pair of vertical versus horizontal cashmere blocks,  but I've found if I mix up the direction of the slants within the block pairs it doesn't matter very much.  I try to be perfect with this but in the background with this stitch it doesn't matter.  So if Pamela likes the cashmere blocks to slant another way, she can do hers all like that without a problem.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow