I would love an update on fill patterns please! All other videos I've seen are too long and or confusing and for some reason need to give a history lesson. Your videos are short, sweet, to the point and I actually learned how to do black stitch cause of this video. I'm trying the snowflake pattern out now, but would love to move onto more complicated patterns.

Thank you. Life's too short, imo! :D

You're so welcome! Thank you for taking the time to comment, I love knowing that I could help someone. Honestly sometimes figuring out your stitching route is kind of like a fun puzzle so I can definitely relate. Happy blackworking! 😊

Blackwork hype! 🙌 Yes I absolutely love to see patterns with a mixture of stitch types, it keeps things interesting and teaches me new stuff. I'm by no means an expert but if I can encourage one person to jump in and try things then I'll consider it a job well done. Am hoping to get a bit more involved in "proper" embroidery next year, maybe you'll have another student yet! 😉

You have absolutely, 100%, got this. Welcome to your new obsession!

Thank you, glad I could be helpful 😊

Omg that would be so pretty! Please if you do this you have to show me the finished result 🥰

Embroidery is a hobby, and I think it should be approached from whatever angle brings you enjoyment. Some people really find joy in puzzling out how to stitch reversibly, and some of us just want to make things pretty from the front. It's all valid! I hope you get to try some more "relaxed" blackwork soon and love it as much as I do 😊

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it, blackwork is super addictive when you get going. Sorry not sorry! ;)

Actually X-stitch is less expensive than Quilting!

Always best to insult your own work before anyone else gets chance, even if it's not really all THAT bad. That's my very specific and quite unwieldy life motto 😉

Ah I'm so glad! You can absolutely do it :)

Thank you! :)

You're very welcome! Is it the Peppermint Purple SAL by any chance? If so it's a great one for your first blackwork because there's lots of variety but also it's easy to keep up with. If not, oh well 😅 If there's anything you find that wasn't explained properly or is confusing please do let me know. Happy stitching! 🥰

@@TheGiddyStitcher thank you! It's not the Peppermint Purple one. It's through the Snarky and Modern Embroidery and Crossstitch group on Facebook. The design is by The Steady Thread.

YOU'RE fabulous! 😘

You're very welcome. Happy stitching!

Hi, you are very welcome! That gift was actually from one of my subscribers who created it from my pattern, but I agree it was lovely! :)

Aw thank you so much I really appreciate it ♥️ And see, people sometimes claim they're reversible purists but I knew most of us were secret hybrid stitchers really! 😆

Oh yay this makes me so happy! Good luck!

Thank you Linda, I'm so glad it was helpful :)

Oh wow that is definitely a new one! I was going to say "if it works then you do you", but it sounds like it *doesn't* work all that well so yeah... 😂 I hope you have better luck doing it this way, may your backstitch be unwonkified from here on out!

You're very welcome, glad there was something in there you could take away. Beads could definitely be interesting, with the disclaimer that I would have to actually learn to do it myself before teaching anyone else! But why not, right? :D

Hah, I can only hope to design things as pretty as hers one day! (I hope it's not too similar though, that would be somewhat embarrassing 🙈)

I’m so old I remember when it was .10 cents.

I'm not sure if you mean blackwork in general or my specific pattern. But if it's the former then yay, blackwork always goes down a treat because it looks so detailed and impressive. And if it's the latter then wow I am honoured! 🥰

@@TheGiddyStitcher I definitely meant your beautiful pattern. I've never tried blackwork before but you explained it so well and it looks so good :)

@@TylerLouie85 Aw that's made my night, thank you! Would love to see what you create 😊

@@TheGiddyStitcher I will definitely post pics and tag you on instagram once they are done and given to my friends

Oh my god I LOVE that you wave back! I woke up this morning feeling horrendous (just a cold, blegh) and that has absolutely cheered me right up, thank you 😂 I've got a punch needle kit on my Christmas list actually! It definitely looks like my kind of thing, but then again so does every other craft so the Christmas list is quite long. We'll have to see what Santa brings...

@@TheGiddyStitcher hope you feel better soon🤧

Hello! Thanks for watching, I hope it was helpful 😊 Personally I prefer the more delicate look of one strand, for blackwork, so I usually just start with a knot. But I have seen people stitch up my snowflake pattern with two strands and it still looks great, it's just a little chunkier! Maybe try a few stitches both ways and see what you think looks best...remember this is your hobby and you can do it however you find most fun!

I am far, FAR too warm to follow this right now but I also super appreciate how much effort you went to so I've put it in my weeked todo list to come back and give this a go. Thank you for (potentially?) solving the puzzle, I am not a smart stitcher 😂

First: I can confirm that the second orderings of stitches work, as I starter the sampler that way. Second: It was a fun little problem to run rattle around my brain for an hour or two. Also this isn't about smart of not, my brain just sees symmetry and paths really easily, it's constant trying to work out the best path for stitches from I do cross-stitch so this triggered that functionality too Thrid: Having let the idea stew for a day now, it think provided that you want the work to be double side, any design where the stitch do not cross can be done with double running stitch, as its a modified Euler path problem, with all vertexes had an even number of edges; potentially this may still held when stitches can cross, but I don't think I know enough about blackwork to model that to try and prove it. Fourth: I believe the logic of the second path, viewing each line segments as a palindrome, and then working them in a branching order, would extend to allow working any connected section of a design with 1 thread (or at least only using multiple threads due to unworkable of super long threads). In my sampler I've done this with the outline; the 2 groups of spines (orthogonal and diagonal), were done separately but could be intermixed. Sorry the heat is melting my brain, plus dyslixia, so sorry if that doesn't made much sense.

Sorry Becky, I don't! Although you may have just given me one for the video ideas list, so thank you 🙂

I did! It got pointed out to me on Reddit after I'd had it stitched up for like a week without noticing 🤦‍♀️All good on the actual pattern though, phew! Thank you 😊

That is such a nice thing to say, thank you so much! I'm glad I can help inspire people in my own little way 🥰 You've asked a really interesting question there and honestly knowing how to find new designers and patterns outside of a basic Etsy search is something I struggle with myself. The stitching community on Instagram has been great for inspiration, although it's a bit too easy to get caught up on the bandwagon of the latest "trendy" stitchalong. If you like big full coverage projects, Paine Free Crafts is my favourite and they have a wide range of styles. If you like to stitch with others, the cross-stitch subreddit has a discussion around 2022 stitchalongs here: www.reddit.com/r/CrossStitch/comments/rjdt1t/chat_2022_sals/ I hope some of that is useful, honestly how to find designers and patterns and what styles are available might well make a good topic for a video... 🤔

@@TheGiddyStitcher Thanks for the tips and would love to catch a video on that topic.

The Fat Quarter Shop (Texas, USA) has a Floss Tube, on KZfaq. Kimberly Jolly & husband Kevin are co-owners & she has Beginner videos: ....Cross Stitch University.... superb camera work with great close-ups.

I think the app you're talking about is Procreate, I use it on my iPad for rough design work. It's not really suited to pixel art (so no good for detailed cross stitch patterns) but it works pretty well for blackwork designs especially if they're symmetrical! Hope that helps 🙂

You could absolutely use other kinds of fabric! The thing to bear in mind with blackwork is that it looks best when it's on a grid because that means the lines and angles will be consistent, so stitching it on something like linen where there's no clear grid can look weird. And if you were just going with something like plain cotton, it would be hard to keep that kind of consistency by hand (not impossible I'm sure, there's nothing stopping you from giving it a go!) One thing you *could* look into if you're not happy with results by hand is water soluble canvas. Gives you a grid to stitch on, but then it just washes away once you're done.

@@TheGiddyStitcher Oh thank you so much for your helpful answer!!!

Ok, I got you. So, if you're doing two strands I always prefer a loop start, but normally for blackwork you'll do one strand which is more finicky. I generally just tie a knot to start from because lazy, but you can also leave a little starting tail then go back and weave it in to the back of your stitches later. Apparently this is more secure but ymmv. To end, I'll generally weave through a couple of stitches and then tie a knot by sort of looping the working thread around the back of a stitch and then through itself. Which makes ZERO sense when I've typed it out so you may have to look up a video for that, sorry! 🤦‍♀️

@@TheGiddyStitcher Okay that does actually make sense to me, thanks! I think I might do some test stitches with a single strand & these starts/ends before I officially start the snowflake. That way hopefully I'll get it right. Or at least right-ish. Appreciate it!

Hi! Good question, for this piece I used a single strand but some people have stitched it up using two, go with your gut and whatever looks best on your fabric :)

The music at the end made me happy. 😊 I danced with your reveal! 😄

Best way to be!

Ok I had no idea what that was, so had to Google it. And now I have no idea what it is. So let's say...probably not?

@@TheGiddyStitcher Haha. I can't wait to find out.

@@TheGiddyStitcher I know it as a make of paint, because obviously that's all I know about these days :p

Ah a chance to get my historical nerd on! Holbein (Hans Holbein the younger) was the Renaissance artist that created the portrait of Anne of Cleves that maaaay have had a few Instagram style filters applied and ended up with the marriage being annulled (and her being paid off with Richmond Palace - although there are alternatives that Henry just changed his mind and lusted after Katherine Howard which is all manner of gross & wrong)... There's also a bizarre song to go with this...*and breathe*

@@yarnhobbit8862 Thanks. Feels weird to not have immediately got that from my cursory google the other day.

Good question and honestly, I expect there are purists out there who wouldn't count most things we call "blackwork" these days as actual blackwork! But unless you're setting your own pure blackwork challenge, or entering a competition with strict rules or something, it's just one of those terms that's changed to a more expansive meaning over time. Pretty much anything that's designed to be done in backstitch will fall under "blackwork" these days.

@@TheGiddyStitcher thank you!! I’m super new to embroidery and the categories are filled with grey area. This helps a lot!

Oh but you know I do tho 👀

Am definitely starting to wonder if anyone will claim to be a purist at all. Do they even exist? Enquiring minds need to know!

@@TheGiddyStitcher my theory is some people like to pretend they are purists, but I've never heard of anyone actually doing it 100% correctly 😂 in my mind, there are no rules in cross stitch and blackwork, or anything else, as long as it stays together and looks the way you want it to 😅