half-crosses

[GreyWolf]

I tend to make a full cross before I go on to the next one. I wanted to try out different techniques so I did the half-crosses and went back and completed the crosses. I like this method better because it seems faster. However, my stitching never turns out as good. It makes the back look a lot better and less fuzzy, but the stitches in the front don't look as uniform. What am I doing wrong? I suppose I'll just stick to doing full crosses, but I want to be able to do it the other way too.

[maggs]

I do all half crosses and then go back and complete the full cross. It is a case of keeping the tension right when doing your stitches.

[Granny]

Besides tension it can also be a twist in the floss. I like to separate into individual strands and then regroup as needed before stitching. This way the threads seem to lie flatter.

[pamelam]

If I have a long row of stitches I do half crosses and then come back and make them full crosses. A lot of times I railroad the stitches and that seems to make them look mor uniform.

[Lessa54]

This is probably very bad of me but I vary whether I'm doing whole crosses or half and completing afterwards according to the pattern. I plan a route for my stitching in a particular colour and where possible I will do the half method (which I think is called the Danish method) and if not possible I will do whole crosses (I believe called the English method). I also will railroad quite a bit and let thread untwist.

The Danish method uses slightly less floss so I like it for floss saving reasons. I also find it a bit quicker too.

[Billly'sGirl]

I'm very bad, too !!! Sometimes I do a whole section in halves and then complete them so I end up in the same spot I began so that I can go on to another section without having to end the thread!!! Other times I just do single stitches. They always look the same to me

[Arianwen]

Yup I do this. I examine the pattern first and plan where to start and finish and try and work it so I use the least amount of thread and it looks like I've done a lot. I do use odd crosses if necessary and I will occasionally 'jump' the thread if there's is a lone couple of crosses close, rather than finishing off and starting again (cause that's where I tend to get in a mess) and I always double and triple check my number of stitches in a particular area to make sure its right

I hate hate hate odd stitches. I have a piece going at the moment that uses 4 - 6 very similar colours and uses them for shading. The effect is amazing but it drives me crazy. I've done maybe 50 - 60% of it. I haven't picked it up in months and months.

anyways back on topic (sorry for the derail)

I cant do one whole stitch before moving on to the other if there are a large number of stitches of that colour in an area, I kinda go onto autopilot and stitch all the halves before crossing back over them

[freelady]

I seem to do all full crosses as I find it easier since most of my projects have a lot of confetti. Even where there is a whole area of one colour I still do full crosses.....without ever thinking about it.

[kell]

I do a mixture of both. If I'm doing a solid block of colour or a uniform pattern then I'll do all one way then come back and cross them. If it's odd stitched or if a pattern doesn't come back to where I started, I'll do whole crosses. I do whichever is easiest for the pattern, or even the sectionof pattern, on which I'm working.

[Cecilia]

I normally plan a route too so sometimes I'll do the complete cross or do half crosses then come back to finish them. But I agree with what others have said, to keep the stitches looking uniform you'll need to rairoad the thread and occasionally let it untwist from the needle. Also be aware of your stitching tension.

[Blue]

Ok, maybe I am just dense but I taught myself to cross stitch probably 26 years ago or so.

So what is 'railroad'? Just learning, slowly the terms.

I also will do the half stitches then come back and cross. Unless I look ahead and see that the stitches on the left are going to end but I will still have stitches on the right to keep going. Then I'll go ahead and do the stitches on the left of my area and they are done doing the whole cross stitch then I'll go on and keep going in half crosses, etc...

[crossstitchcowgirl]

just do what makes you feel comfortable. and the back is always going to look messy. that is why it is the back. no one looks at the back anyway.

[Rose]

Ok, maybe I am just dense but I taught myself to cross stitch probably 26 years ago or so.

So what is 'railroad'? Just learning, slowly the terms.

I also will do the half stitches then come back and cross. Unless I look ahead and see that the stitches on the left are going to end but I will still have stitches on the right to keep going. Then I'll go ahead and do the stitches on the left of my area and they are done doing the whole cross stitch then I'll go on and keep going in half crosses, etc...

I believe that the term is in our Glossary Terms thread in the General section.

[Suzanne]

What I do is half cross stitch to as far as either that colour will go or I run out of thread, then go back and do the other half. I find it very easy and all my cross stitching looks great. Sometimes, I do do the whole cross stitch if I know that reaching it again will be hard ie too much thread being used. I wish I could do a demo, so that you can see what I mean! It is very difficult to explain, but so easy to do. I also work with one hand with the pattern balancing on my other hand.

[~threadbear~]

I do both ways as well, depending on what works best for the 'route' I'm taking.
I sometimes think I can see a difference as well, when I look at what I'm stitching, but once the work's completed it all looks the same.

[XandraS]

I'm another one who does it both ways ( hmm does that sound dirty to anyone else? Sorry) mostly I will do a row of half crosses and come back but sometimes I'll do the full cross before moving on. As others have said it depends on the pattern, I don't particularly care how the back looks as long as the front is good