Fig. 302. Two-sided italian stitch. Position of the needle for the 4th and 5th stitches.
Fig. 303. Two-sided italian stitch. Return journey, which completes the cross stitch.
Montenegrin cross stitch (figs. [304], [305], [306]).—The Slavonic tribes of the southern districts of E. Europe, especially the Montenegrins, have a great partiality for this stitch, which has been rarely noticed, hitherto, in books on needlework. The right side shows cross stitches with a double thread underneath, and divided by vertical stitches; the wrong side, regular cross stitches, also divided by vertical stitches. Coarse cotton should be used for this stitch; it produces a richer effect and not only covers the stuff better, but also the underneath stitch which in the Slavonic work, is entirely hidden by the cross stitches.
Fig. 304. Montenegrin cross stitch.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th stitch and transversal stitch
Begin, as letter A indicates, with a long, slanting stitch, across 4 and 8 threads, then, bringing your needle back from right to left, under four threads, draw it out, carry it over the first long stitch, and insert it again from left to right, under the first four threads of the canvas. These four stitches finished, proceed to the fifth and sixth, which as B shows, cross the first four, then repeat the first stitch.