This week the challenge is a stitch called Bullion Knot Stitch.
Tips to work Bullion Knot stitch
People either love or hate bullions, but most of the problems associated with working them is that people use the wrong needle.
I recommend milliners or straw needles because most embroidery needles have an eye that is wider than the shaft of the needle. Milliners or straw needles have an eye and shaft that are the same width which makes sliding the wrapped bullion knot along the needle easy. Try it as it does make a difference.
Another tip is to wrap them clockwise as for most threads this will mean you will follow the natural twist of the thread. If your thread untwists as you wrap your bullion, it means the thread was spun in the opposite direction to most threads on the market. This would include some rayon threads. In this case wrap your bullion in an anti clockwise direction.
Simply put, wrap clockwise most of the time but if for some reason this untwists your thread wrap anti clockwise.
Some people get a little tense and wrap too tight. Then, while still on the needle hold the bullion between thumb and first finger and rub the bullion back and forth to loosen the wraps slightly before you pull the needle through.
Once mastered they do take a little practice bu they are well worth learning and enjoying!
How to join in
It is not complicated. All you need to do is stitch a sample, take a photograph of it, put in online in your blog, flickr site or on Stitchin Fingers page, swing by here again and leave a comment with your full web address so people can visit and see your sample. Where is here? At the bottom of this article under the tags is a link that says ‘book mark permalink’.
Any special rules?
There are no rules but I do have a request, please link back here.
Interesting work will be featured
Each week I will feature samples that participants have stitched order to draw attention to creative and interesting work. This means some work will be re-published. I will credit and link to the owners website but I assume that when you leave your link here, I have your permission to feature your work. If you do not want your work to be featured please say in the comment, you leave and I wont include it in the feature.
Further information
If you need further information on the challenge a list of stitches covered so far or directions on how to participate please visit the TAST FAQ page.
You can read back through TAST articles by browsing Challenges - Take a Stitch Tuesday category
Other groups and networks
You can also share your explorations with other members on the social network site of your choice. There is a Facebook TAST 2012 page, stitchin fingers group and the flickr TAST site. All these sub groups are set up at request of members
