Focus on: Accentuate

Accentuate is a gorgeous poly thread that is comprised of 70% polyamide and 30% metallic polyester. It is sold in 50 meter spools, in 148 different colors. This very fine metallic filament is very strong and flexible. You can use it alone or blended with other threads to give your color a little bit of a pop of glitter. You would use this filament in a 2:1 equivalent. If you're using Accentuate alone, you should select simpler stitches. It would be a waste of time to execute a complicated stitch with sparkly metallic threads like Accentuate because the pattern would not be apparent.


Use the Ashley stitch, shown in the photo above, to create a lovely background, a special clothing pattern, or wallpaper. In the example above, Stephen used 12 strands of Accentuate by itself to create the effect of this stitch. It's nice to see how beautiful this thread comes out when you're just using it by itself.


Another stitch that uses this lovely thread is the Framed Reverse Scotch Stitch, which you can see above. This stitch would look lovely in a design with a tablecloth, a pattern on curtains, and rugs. Once again, the thread is not blended with another color, but is placed next to another contrasting color. This little pop of shimmer really makes the yellow pop and gives this stitch added character.


The Raised Maltese Cross, seen above, is another fantastic example of a stitch that this thread really shines in. The combination of the loveliness of this stitch as well as the beautiful colors that Accentuate comes in, would make this an excellent stitch to use with Accentuate to create a patch of flowers or shrubbery.

Try this lovely thread out for yourself. By all means let us know how it works for you, and what you use it for! We love to see everyone's projects!

Stitch of the Week: Rosemary

This past week we held a Thread Tasting class. In this class, we give you a goodie bag with samples of five to six types of thread that we carry. All of the threads that Stephen chose were beautiful. With each of the threads, Stephen also gave a stitch lesson.

One of my favorite ribbons we carry is Neon Rays Plus. I wrote a blog all about it back in August.

The stitch Stephen used to show how to incorporate this ribbon into your next project was the Rosemary stitch. This is a beautiful stitch that really catches your eye and can make your piece look special.



This stitch is completed in three parts. For the first part, which you can see in the image above, you will use basketweave to complete each square.


Once you have completed a 3 x 3 group of these squares, you will stitch two straight stitches over three intersections, following the guide above.


Finally, once you have finished stitching the straight stitches, you will complete the stitch by doing a small cross stitch in the middle of each cross, as shown above.

As you can see in the stitched sample at the top of this blog, this stitch looks best when using three different colors for each of the parts. A cotton thread, such as DMC or Hylas, or Mandarine Floss, shown in this past blog post, is perfect for the first part where you use the basketweave stitch. Use Neon Rays + for the second step to make the straight stitches (or "petals" as I like to call them) really pop. For the final step, use a complimentary color of the petal.

This stitch would look great as a border, a pattern on clothing, or used as a square in a stitch sampler. As I've mentioned, this stitch would also look great as a little flower patch.

I hope you give this stitch a try, and feel free to send us a picture of how you incorporate it into your piece!

Stitch of the Week: Nobuko

The Nobuko stitch is a great stitch for creating special effects in your piece. It is a textured stitch that is worked in alternating long and short diagonal stitches, and is worked in rows similar to the Continental Stitch. It can be worked in a single color or multiple colors by row.


To stitch the Nobuko, you will work from right to left. Bring your needle up through the canvas and over one intersection (1-2 in the diagram shown). After that, you will bring your needle up one row under the first (3), and then you will carry the stitch over three intersections (3-4 in the diagram shown). The next stitch will be over one section, and then you will continue in the same way across the row you are stitching. When you are stitching the next row (as you can see in the picture below) you will be working in the opposite direction.


There are a lot of great threads you can use to really emphasize this attractive stitch. Flair is a very pretty ribbon thread that you can use to create snow. Threadworx Overdyed thread is great for stitching sky and water. To create snow, sky or water, you can use Silk and Ivory and Silk and Ivory Stardust. To create fish scales, you can use Perle cotton in either #3 or #5, and you can also use Trebizond.

Focus on: Mandarin Floss

Mandarin Floss is a beautiful and easy to use 6-strand floss made of 100% Bamboo. Stephen, one of Rittenhouse Needlepoint's owners, says it lays better than cotton because it is softer, yet it is still very strong. For these reasons, it's very similar to silk, but it has the benefit of being less costly! You would use this fantastic thread wherever you would use embroidery floss, strand for strand. Ply up or down to suit your needs, of course. We recommend using four strands of Mandarin Floss for 18 mesh. For 14 mesh, use 6 ply. For 14 count cross stitch fabric, use 2 plies.

Above is an example of this thread stitched up. I chose to use the Milanese stitch, which was very easy to learn. The Mandarin Floss just glided through the canvas and gave me no problems. It didn't snag like cotton sometimes does, and it really is very soft! Another great thing about this thread and also with this stitch is that Mandarin floss has a semi-matte finish, so it doesn't overpower other stitches. So, if you use the Milanese stitch shown here, and blogged about earlier in the week, you won't have to worry that it will look distracting or overpowering.

Some other stitches that Mandarin Floss would look great with are French knots, Moorish, Damask, Byzantine Scotch, and the Fancy stitch.

Come in to the store and check out this fantastic fiber. We carry 120 of the 132 colors in the line, and they're all beautiful!

Stitch of the Week: Milanese

The Milanese is a lovely simple stitch that can really enhance your needlepoint. The Milanese stitch is comprised of triangle shapes arranged in diagonal rows. Depending on the effect you want, you can stitch each row in the same color, or you can do multiple colors. It would also be striking to use an over-dyed thread (like the image above), which would give the canvas another interesting dimension!


This stitch is a great stitch for filling larger shapes and backgrounds because it can be slightly bulky depending on the thread used. You can see in the sample above that it is stitched using Perle cotton. Because this is a thicker fiber, it would be best for a background stitch. This way it won't distract your eye from the focal point in your piece (unless you want this to be the focal point in the piece of course!).

You can use this stitch to create realistic mountains using Pebbly Perle, Perle cotton, or an overdyed thread. It is also great for Southwestern motifs, especially with an overdyed thread that combines the colors in your piece.*

We hope you enjoy using this lovely stitch in your needlepoint! Let us know how it works for you!

* p.40, Stitches For Effect, Suzanne Howren & Beth Robertson, 1996.

Focus on: Gloriana Lorikeet Wool

A few months ago we built up our thread selection in the store, and one of the lines that we purchased was Gloriana's Lorikeet wool. It's a beautiful hand-dyed over-dyed 100% Australian wool. It is a great choice for embroidery, crewel, needlepoint, punchneedle and counted-thread. It comes in a skein of five yards, and is plyable to nine strands. One strand can be used on 32 count linen or in any combination of 1 to 9 ply depending on the fabric and use. We recommend using six strands on 13 mesh.


Above are some samples of how this beautiful fiber looks stitched. The bottom right sample is stitched in continental. The bottom left is continental again, but the threads are reversed. You can see how this creates a total different look! The top right sample is stitched in Basketweave, and similar to the bottom row, the left stitched square is stitched in Basketweave again, but this time the thread is reversed. It is really amazing how different the sample looks depending on how you stitch it!

Lorikeet has shades of colors within the rainbow, so you may find between one and five shades in each color range, which is great for shading!

If you're wondering what kind of stitches this thread looks great in, and how you would incorporate it into one of your pieces, I have some suggestions. The Ashley stitch would be really effective on a rug, as would the Irregular Jacquard. The Criss Cross Hungarian stitch in Lorikeet would look great on a beard, so if you're stitching a Christmas stocking, try out this stitch and the appropriate color for Santa's beard! The Dutch stitch, is a fantastic stitch for a stone wall. The Hungarian Stitch is also fabulous for cushions. Also, when you're stitching a person, whether it's santa, or a figure in a landscape or ornament, consider using a complimentary color and trying Turkey Work for hair! That would really make your piece stand out!

I invite you to come into the shop and check out all of the gorgeous colors we have of this thread. We have the full line, so there are a lot to choose from, and will give you lots of opportunities to try it out in whatever piece you're working on!

Stitch of the Week: Fern Stitch

The Fern stitch is a lovely stitch that can be used in a number of ways. It consists of pairs of overlapping diagonal stitches worked in vertical rows. It has an inter-locked look, and is a medium texture pattern. This stitch can be incorporated as individual or group columns. It is perfect as a border or background.

The advantage of this stitch is that it works up relatively fast and is very versatile. You can use the chart shown as the rule, but also keep in mind that you can vary the length of the arms. The only disadvantages are that it creates a bad backing and is a yarn hog. If you would like to use this stitch on your piece, make sure you have more than enough thread!


When you are stitching this pretty stitch, work from right to left in vertical rows. This means you should work from top to bottom only. Do not attempt to do this stitch from the bottom to the top. When you reach the end of the column, stop and bury your thread. Start your next column back at the top.