XVII
HARDANGER EMBROIDERY FOR SQUARES, PIN CUSHIONS, AND SPREADS
We have to go back to the foreign embroideries to find those that are beautiful and yet substantial enough to last beyond the usual life of a piece of fancy work. There is nothing we have originated in embroidery on this side of the world as rich as Hardanger work, and yet it is comparatively little known. The background for this work is a loosely woven material like scrim or basket weave materials such as Java canvas or the regular Hardanger canvas which is imported.
It is lots of fun working Hardanger in wool on Java canvas as it goes so quickly, and after we have learned the stitches we can work it on as fine a canvas as we desire.
Fig. 161. The block
The simplest stitch is the block. Thread a large tapestry needle with a piece of heavy wool. On your piece of Java canvas work a little block. The worsted is on the right side of the canvas, and then taking a stitch over four threads of the canvas bring the needle up on the next opening to the right on the same line as the first. Five stitches constitute a block; a space of four threads is then left and the next block started, ([Figure 161]). A great deal of Hardanger has these blocks running at right angles to each other with no space between the blocks. Mistakes cause a great deal of trouble and sometimes it is necessary to rip out quite a lot of stitches before they can be rectified and for that reason you must be very accurate in your counting.
Fig. 162. The star