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Yarn embroidery techniques
Yarn embroidery
Even if you have never done embroidery before you will be amazed at what you can create by combining a few simple stitches. I created an entire soaker using the Star, Rose, and Chain Stitch. With practice, you will find yourself mixing and matching the different stitches to create your own patterns.
The Star
The Star pattern is a great stitch for a beginner. It will help you learn to keep your stitches even and it is the basis for many other stitches.
Begin from the underside, poking the needle through the center of one of your knit stitches without knotting the yarn. Pull the yarn through taking care not to pull the yarn completely through. Poke the needle back through the center of one of your knit stitches.
Bring the stitch back through the center of your first stitch. Pull the yarn through and poke it back through about the same distance to create the next spoke on the star. Repeat the straight stitch until you have a five spoke star. Always end with your last stitch from front to back.
It may take a few tries to get your stitches even but with practice this will come naturally. When you are happy with your star, you need to secure the beginning and end of your yarn by pulling it under one of your stitches on the backside. This will hold the yarn secure.
The Rose
A yarn rose is very easy to create once you can make a star. Begin with a completed star. Instead of cutting and securing the yarn, you will poke the needle back through the center of the star.
Begin at the center, weaving your needle over and under the spokes of the star. Keep going around the star until you have covered all of the spokes and you are happy with the size of the rose.
The final step is to poke the needle under the rose and weave the yarn through the underside. The rose can be as showy or simple as you want. Experiment with different colors and combinations . In addition to roses, this stitch is great for eyes, freckles, polka dots...
Chain Stitch
To create the chain stitch, bring the needle up through the center of a knit stitch. Return the needle back through the center of the stitch next to the entry stitch. Pull the yarn through leaving a loop.
Bring the needle from back to front at the top of the loop. Return the needle to the back through the next stitch securing the loop. The chain stitch is very versatile. Using the star pattern created a ton of fun flowers; I also used it for the scales on my fish.
