Stitch of the Month
April 2008: Circular Rhodes

by Lois Kershner

Continuing with our theme of stitches that create round shapes, April 2008 features a circular Rhodes stitch pattern. The Rhodes stitch, a member of the cross stitch family of stitches, adds wonderful dimension to a piece.

Strictly speaking, the stitch sequence shows a figure with eight sides. Even though our illustration is an octagon, from a distance the figure takes on the appearance of being a circle. Use a long length of thread for this Circular Rhodes—about one yard—to go around the entire circle without changing threads.


Stitched Circular Rhodes

The stitching is done in a circular sequence, with the thread extending from one side of the circle to the opposite side. The stitches will build up as you go around the pattern, showing whether the circle was stitched clockwise or counter clockwise. Our examples are stitched and charted in the counter clockwise direction.


Circular Rhodes Stitch Chart

The last stitch you take will be on top of all others and its direction will show. To plan the direction of the last stitch, have your first stitch of the circle be the one immediately next to this last stitch.

Given the number of stitches in this Circular Rhodes pattern it would work up nicely in two different threads. The stitch sequence for the illustrations below is the same as in the Circular Rhodes Stitch Chart.


Two-Color Circular Rhodes


Circular Rhodes Charted for 2 Different Threads

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Last updated Wednesday, March 5th, 2008