28-18 count conversion

[Ruthi]

I happen to have some 18 count linen in my stash, and a couple of charts that would stitch up rather small on 28 count, so I thought I would do them on the 18.

It looks to me as if,to get similar coverage, I would need to stitch 3 over 2, instead of 2 over two on 28 count linen. Which is fine mathematically but how do I keep the threads lying neatly? Railroading won't work, will it? Or I could make my own No 12 perle from the floss and use two strands, or No 8 perle and use one strand.

Has anyone any ideas or thoughts before I start on the painstaking business of trial and error?

[Serinde]

You should get good coverage using 2 strands over an 18ct. Of course, 3 produce chunkier stitching, and railroading won't help. If you want to use 3 strands, see if you don't have a tapestry needle or something you can use as a kind of laying tool.

[cristaltipps]

In your original post you say you would stitch 2 over 2 on 28 count linen, this equals 14 count aida and as 18 count is smaller, then 2 strands would give decent coverage.

I personally would not like to do 3 strands on 18 count as once you get into it a bit you will struggle to get the bulk through the material where you have already used a hole once or twice.

Unless you are looking for a really different sort of textural effect, I wouldn't even mess about with different threads but having said that it's horses for courses and you won't know unless you experiment good luck with it

Oh just a thought if you were doing 2 over 2 on the 28 count then 18 count will come out smaller on the finished object but bigger if you were going to do 2 over 1 on the linen if that makes any sense.

[Ruthi]

Its linen, Cristal, so stitched over two, not one like aida. The holes are quite large in relation to the solid bit - larger, proportionately, than on 28 count.

The issue is whether I want the same sort of coverage as I would get stitching 2 over 2 on 28 count, or something more airy. I think the only thing is to stitch some tests.

This stitching from stash presents its challenges!

[cristaltipps]

Sorry Ruthi, I misread your original post and thought the 18 count was something different to linen, good luck with the test runs, hope you find what works for you best

[NeedleAndFork]

Even if it's linen, you can stitch over 1... I just stitched a small piece over 1 on 32 count linen. What I did was to make sure that the bottom leg of my stitches were done as if I were tenting, so that the back of the stitches was also diagonal rather than vertical. That helped to keep the floss from slipping under the threads and kept things in place well enough to stitch the top leg of the stitch normally. When I stitch on 18 count, I like to use 2 strands of floss for full crosses, though 3 or 4 strands work well for tenting and half crosses. I'd use a laying tool if you're getting into that many strands though - I found that using a small crochet hook worked well for me..

[Ruthi]

If I felt that way inclined, of course I could stitch over one with sufficiently thick thread. But I don't want to. I am using the 18 count in order to get the piece to come out larger!

[Nordly]

Ruthi, are you saying that the original design is stitched 2 over 2 on 28-count linen? That makes it effectively a 14-count aida, and if you want the finished piece to be bigger, you need to stitch on a larger count, e.g. 12-count, 11-count. If you stitch on a 18-count, the finished piece will be even smaller. Does this make sense?

Example: if your original stitch count is 140 sts x 140 sts, then the finished size is:
on 28 count linen, stitched over 2: 10" x 10"
on 18 count aida, stitched over 1: 7.8" x 7.8"
on 11 count aida, stitched over 1: 12.7" x 12.7"

Ofcourse, if the original is stitched over 1 on 28-count linen, then please disregard the above!

And to answer your question about coverage for 18 count: I find that 2 strands is sufficient (doing full crosses).

[Ruthi]

Forget aida, thisis linen. The original design is stitched over 2 on 28 count. I am proposing to stitch over 2 on 18 count. By my reckoning that makes it roughly 60% wider, and 60% taller, and well over double the area. However, that doesn't mean that half the area will be uncovered by thread if I stitch 2 over 2, I think it will be nearer 20%.

I just need to rifle through my stash to find some thread for testing.

[Nordly]

Oh Ruthi, I feel like such a dunce! You did indicate clearly in your first post that you're stitching over 2 on 18 count, so effectively making it 9-count!
FWIW, I'm currently stitching 3 strands on 11-count, and the coverage is sufficient, but I have to be careful to lay all 3 strands flat next to each other, otherwise the (white) background will show. With 9-count, I think 3 wouldn't be enough, so maybe try stitching with 4 strands and see how that works out.

[Allyn]

Other folks have addressed your count-vs-threads question. I'm just chiming in about question about getting the threads to lay flat. I'm not sure railroading would help, since that separates two threads and lets them lay side-by-side. You might try a laying tool. The laying tool will help you lay the threads flat no matter how many threads you use.

[Nachstenliebe]

I'm picky when it comes to this kind of thing.. if it's a portrait style stitching, I'd use 2 because it's basically stitch upon stitch... but if it's a small design or something that isn't so boxed up like a portrait I'd be keen on using 3.. if that makes sense?

[Ruthi]

I'm picky when it comes to this kind of thing.. if it's a portrait style stitching, I'd use 2 because it's basically stitch upon stitch... but if it's a small design or something that isn't so boxed up like a portrait I'd be keen on using 3.. if that makes sense?

I do understand. Its kind of half way, a flower motif, but plenty of unstitched area.

Here's the tests for 2 and 3 strands. I realised when I started that I am not actually up for making the fairly large quantity of perle that would be needed for this project, and as I need specific colours, that meant it was really down to 2 or 3 strands!



As I suspected, there isn't as much difference as one might imagine, but I think I prefer 3 strands. I didn't lay the threads, they did that for themselves, but it might get trickier as the length of yarn gets used up. We shall see!

[Allyn]

The stitches with three strands do have better coverage except for the one that is twisted (middle row, right). I'd use a laying tool to keep them flat and I think you'll be golden.