Take A Stitch Tuesday - Week 2

I've been down with an upper respiratory infection the past week, so I was worried I'd fall another week behind on this project, but fortunately, I've recovered enough to sit upright and stitch. And thank goodness, because this week's stitch for sharonb's Take A Stitch Tuesday was the easy and fun buttonhole stitch. I have done this stitch only once before, years ago, on a small hardanger project. It's quite simple, and the variations are endless.

This is what I came up with:



The first row is a basic buttonhole stitch. On the left side, you can see where I started out one hole off, and corrected after two stitches. I meant to experiment later with off-setting the top stitch that way, but didn't get to it before my self-imposed "post day." The second half of the first row is the stitch done the left-handed way. I am left-handed, but for the most part, I don't modify my stitching. It was easier doing the basic stitch left-handed, but when I was working with the other motifs, I found it easier to revert to the common method.

The half circle motif ended where I somehow lost count and tried to frog. I lost the entire sequence, and just started over with the successful circle motif you see below it.

I tried a sort of chevron shape, and a flower, as you can see. I even charted a tulip motif, complete with stem and leaves, all in buttonhole, but gave that up after four unsuccessful tries. I guess my cold-congested brain was not up to the challenge!

I had some other ideas, but just couldn't get to them, what with the cold, and the disarray my fibers are in. But I had so much fun doing this project and I'm looking forward to having more time and energy for the next stitches.

Thanks so much, Sharon, for hosting this project!