Towel in Celtic Backstitch

The other three hand-towels I bought to embroider had an inset Aida panel. I decided to try one of these as a 'grab and go' project for a recent trip to Canberra. I took a pattern from the book Celtic Backstitch by Helen Hall. I chose a pattern that could be repeated across the towel. 2 repeats (3 motifs altogether) were an almost perfect fit.

I settled on Perle 8 Dinky Dyes thread in variegated pink,made a copy of the motif and put these into a drawstring bag along with a couple of needles an my travel scissors - and set off.

It took me a bit to get back into the swing of counted thread work. After a couple of false starts I decided to use double running instead of Backstitch. That way I can advance the pattern more quickly, getting it mapped out before coming back to fill in the second row.

 

This was an improvement. Even so, when I had finished the motifs it looked a bit insipid,

so I whipped the running stitch with a variegated blue Dinky Dyes Perle 8.

This has achieved the effect I was after - a textured pattern in blended colours. These are slightly larger than the other hand towels I have recently embroidered and a good thickness. 

Poinsettia Hand Towels

In between the big projects from my Scottish Embroidery tour I continued to work on some of the towelling hand towels I had in my stash. 

The second pair I settled on was another with a printed pattern - this time featuring poinsettias and not, fortunately, cross-stitch.

The instructions specified satin stitch but I decided to use an open fly stitch. This gave me good coverage and allowed more precise laying of the thread than satin stitch would give me.

I needed to go back over the leaves to fill gaps but I was very pleased with the results.

It was simple, bright and effective.