A Bump In the Rhodes

I finished my first release for next year – A Bump In The Rhodes! This one will be released at the Phoenix TNNA show at the end of January, and is all Rhodes stitches, perfect for beginning counted canvas stitchers. I stitched it with Sullivans #5 pearl cottons and flosses on 18 ct. Rose Blush canvas, but like all of my designs the colors and threads can easily be changed.

I think I may have broken a few “rules” with this one. Of course, we all know there are only two needlework rules – the thread goes in the needle and the needle goes in the canvas! But generally, for Rhodes stitches, the final stitch for all of the Rhodes stitches within in a piece should have the same orientation. If the final stitch is the vertical stitch, all of the final stitches should be vertical, or all of them should be horizontal, or all of them should be diagonal. I did not hold to that with this design!

I’ve wanted to see what would happen to the look of a piece if the Rhodes stitches didn’t follow the rules, so I played with the final orientation for several of the stitches. So some of them are vertical, some of them are horizontal, and some of them are diagonal – gasp! But I think it works for this piece, and remains true to the intent of the design.

For Rhodes stitch lovers, this design incorporates squares, rectangles, rounds, diamonds, hearts and butterflies. I had fun playing with the many shapes and sizes of Rhodes stitches, and creating textures with floss and #5 pearl cotton. I didn’t have purple people in mind when I was picking colors, but was thinking more in line with Valentine’s Day and late winter.

I’ve got a few more single-stitch designs in mind. This one joins Rice Pudding, my homage to rice stitches. Next up is a study in Smyrna stitches. It’s designed and waiting for color inspiration, so if you have a particular color in mind, give me a shout!