Editor's Note:
In our last three issues we featured this in-depth study of compensation. Thank you for your enthusiastic response and many thanks to Tony Minieri for his excellent research and professional presentation. We are proud to present out final installment.

CONTINUATION OF COMPENSATION FOR CROSSED STITTCHES

Compensation Against a Diagonal Line

As in the Pavillion Diamond the edges of the Double Straight Cross are diagonal; and as long as you being at the diagonal line and position your first stitch properly against it, you will have no compensation to deal with along this line.

Compensation Agaisnt an Oblique Line

In this case, because of the 6x2 slope of the oblique line and the construction of the stitch pattern, you encounter a regular pattern to your compensation quite readily. This happens because the slope moves 6 threads horizontally; and the second row of Double Straight Cross vertically or horizontally extends 2 threads beyond the width of the Double Straight Cross, making the two rows 6 threads wide. This relationship between the width of the stitches and the vertical drop of the slope of the oblique line makes the pattern of the compensation quite regular.

Compensation Agasint a Curved Line

When compensating a crossed stitch, execute the stitch elements in the same order as in the full stitch.

Here you have two possible starting points for your first stitch. You have horizontal stitch elements, so you could center the first stitch along the straight edge at the top of the circle; or, because of the diagonal stitch elements, you could position the first stitch at the midpoint of the diagonal side. In this case the compensation repetition would be a mirror image from quadrant to quadrant. To start at the top would be easier, but the added challenge of starting at the diagonal side would make you grow as a stitcher.

Look at the two top compensations: Here the vertical element is shortened to two threads and must be stitched first, then the horizontal element; and the two tent stitches which are the compensation for the diagonal cross are stitched last and must go over the horizontal stitch element and pull it down. If you do not stitch in the proper order, you will not maintain the integrity of the stitch.

As you have found out, rules are made to be broken. Here you have the option of stitching the horizontal stitch element out of sequence along a horizontal straight edge and the vertical stitch element out of sequence along a vertical straight edge to fill in the edges of the area. This is purely a personal choice

DUTCH STITCH

This is a 2-thread wide by 4-thread high oblong cross stich with a 4-thread-wide horizontal crossbar. This stitch can also be worked on its side, but I have chosen the vertical form for this exercise. The rows of this stitch are half-dropped as in the Double Straight Cross. The bottom and tops of the oblong crosses line up horizontally with the crossbars from the neighboring rows.

Compensation Against a Straight Line

Since the relationship of the rows of stitches in this pattern is the same as the Double Straight Cross, the compensation will be the same. In this pattern, the crossbar is at the vertical midpoint of the stitch and you have the option of omitting it.

Along the straight edge you have, adding the crossbar creates a strong edge to the area.

Compensation Against a Diagonal Line

Since this oblong cross unit of the stitch is 2-threads wide, rather than starting at the top of the diagonal line where it is too narrow and you would surely have a more difficult compensation, start 1 canvas thread lower to facilitate your stitching. Planning like this will help make your compensation so much easier. By moving down 1 canvas thread, the only compensation you have to deal with is a tent stitch.

Compensation Against an Oblique Line

In this case, to have no compensation in your first full stitch, you must begin 1 thread in from the left and 2 threads down from the top. If the stitch is bisected along its length, maintaining the correct angle of the oblong cross is not difficult. Look at the Dutch stitch in the upper left corner where one of the oblique stitch elements must be shortened to 3 threads high. This one canvas thread will certainly change the angle, but not enough to make a tragic difference. This acceptable slight angular difference is called "fudging". We'll discuss that later.

Compensation Against a Curved Line

Because of the symmetry of the stitch with the 4-thread-wide crossbar dividing the height of the oblong cross, it behooves us to start at the top edge of the circle. Here we would not want to include the crossbar because that certainly would not maintain the curve of the circle. By placing the first stitch against the top of the circle and the right end of the crossbar in the center vertical channel, you will have mirror-imaged quadrants.

PILE-ON STITCHES

There are some special cases in this crossed family of stitches. These are pile-on stitches, such as Rhodes stitch, which contain multiple oblique lines, as well as straight and diagonal ones. In these cases, we have two methods to deal with them. We can bring the needle to the surface at the point of original of the particular stitch element we are compensating and hold the thread at the point where the full stitch would go while observing the angle it creates. We then need to place the stitch into a hole of the canvas that is as close to the angle of the full stitch element as possible. This is the basic idea of "the Fudge Factor". When the angle of the full stitch element is impossible to maintain in the given area, we must visualize what will look as close to the original as possible. This does not happen often, but it is a necessary evil to learn. Fudging is either instinctive or a knack we develop after quite a bit of experience with compensation.

In the examples at the right we have a 6x6 Square Rhodes Stitch. The numbering for the full stitch is in the top chart.

I want to compensate against the 6x2 oblique line we have been using. The diagonal and straight elements comensate quite readily. The oblique elements look correct on paper but in actuality, when stitched, the angles will be fudged.

CONCLUSION

I have not included composite patterns because they are, after all, combinations of straight, diagonal, oblique and crossed stitches and we have already explored each one of these families. The next time you're faced with the need to compensate, remember the words rhythm, proper angle, overall appearance and adjustment. If you keep this in mind, you can master this technique and gradually hone it into a fine art – "the Art of Fitting In."

Bibliography

Christensen, Jo Ippolito, The Needlepoint Book, New York , Prentice Hall Press, 1976.
Eaton, Jan, The Complete Stitch Encyclopedia, New York, Quarto Publishing, 1987.
English, Mary Morrison, The Canvas Embroidery Notebook, self-published, 1986.
Ireys, Katherine, The Encyclopedia of Canvas Embroidery Stitches, New York, Thomas Y. Crowell.
Lantz, Sherlee, A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint Canvas, NY, Grosset and Dunlap, Inc., 1965.
Pearson, Anna, Needlepoint Stitch by Stitch, New York, Random House, 1987.
Rhodes, Mary, Dictionary of Canvas Work Stitches, Great Britain, Anchor Press, Inc., 1980.
Zimmerman, Jane, The Canvas Work Encyclopedia, self-published, 1989.