Here is my Christmas 2024!

As I embroidered, I reread (listened to) some Christmas stories, letting the idea of retracing the footsteps of (and the lights of) Ebenizeer Scrooge fascinate me. So I had been scribbling away, from day to day and stitch by stitch.

When I sit at the PC, precisely because I am not a writer, I do not define a plot to be packaged with words: I just write, without forethought. It’s more the attitude of someone who keeps a diary. A kind of stream of consciousness, I guess. Here the trigger was that I would be visited by the three ghosts: and precisely because the forethought was not there, it was as if the ghosts really visited me. Memories, images and thoughts caught me off guard.

Thanks to those who followed me!

Now, however, I am coming back down to earth, stop chasing my mental contortions, and spend a few words (finally!) on what I think interests me most: stitches, colors, yarns.

The design was born and grew rather quickly, because I have long since learned that stylizing elements as much as possible is functional for embroidery. Initially, however, the idea was to embroider and make the four decorative pendants, as I had done in Christmas 2023. I had stood for an hour staring at the designs, wondering how on earth I could embroider them, using simple stitches suitable for everyone. The little voice in my head said “Stuoia” Stitch!, but I ignored it. Then again “Stuoia” Stitch!, and I No! No!!!. Then he would start yelling, humming, whispering, scanning Stuuuuuu-o-iiii-aaa stiiiii-tch!, and I would start getting irritated. I was convinced when he played it like an opera singer.

So it became almost all “stuoia” stitch embroidery: the little trees and the little houses embroidered it to us with vertical throws, the water and the snow with horizontal throws.

Here in Italy, “stuoia” stitch is the basic ingredient of Byzantine embroidery (Bizantina Ars) and Prenestino embroidery. I had written some posts on this blog, related to Byzantine embroidery here:https://elisabettasforzaembroidery.it/categoria/ricamo-bizantino/ and Prenestine embroidery here: https://elisabettasforzaembroidery.it/categoria/ricamo-prenestino/

The first, originating in the areas around Ravenna, the other near Palestrina (Rome), both of which have in common the designs taken from bas-reliefs in local churches and the style, which uses mat stitch as the background, on which the images stand out, in negative.

I used the Byzantine directions and worked with two strands of muliné. On my social profiles you will also find a demonstration reel. You don’t embroider “stuoia” stitch very often, poor thing. It has Byzantine stitched on itself and it seems that it cannot be used otherwise. But I think it can give more.

I, compared to the technique I was taught, have added small additional movements over time:

  • When I pull the thread, I accompany the drafting of the two threads with a needle to make them lay flat without twisting
  • I embroider the stopping stitches as long as the empty intervals I leave (so I do very slant stitches)
  • When I do the stopping stitch, I slip the tip of the needle under the vertical thread of the previous row, to ensure the mobility of the new thread and thus its perfect juxtaposition to the previous one.

Two caveats:

  • It is perfectly normal for the “stuoia” stitch to make you angry as you work it: it will always look lackluster and confused. You need to have a brew now and then, so you can look at it with fresh eyes, before starting again.
  • The hoop must be stretched taut!

For those reading in English, I warn that I decided to keep, in the translation of the stitch, the “stuoia” stitch entry, because my little translation research had pointed out to me that we add movements here that distinguish it from more similar stitches, such as the Romanian stitch or the Kloster stitch. However, sending these names into research gives access to a wealth of curious images to draw on, so I included these references as well.

Since I had taken a liking to it.. The runner was later born, with the Christmas village on one side and the lake forest on the other. For the cutwork scalloper edges, I used DMC’s cotton a broder No. 25.

Then the thought also occurred to me that someone might like the design while struggling to digest the mat stitch. So I tried an easy stem-stitch version, with a shaded Coloris 4518 yarn from DMC.

Here therefore ends, but starts for someone else, my adventure with Christmas 2024 embroidery.
Chiara Cannata, whom I thank, packaged the pdf for me and you can find it on the e-book section of my site!