I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate embroidery into my knitting.  I embroidered on some fingerless mittens awhile back, and I kinda liked how they turned out, but I wanted to work on this some more.

I got the bright idea that I’d like to try Sashiko on my knitting.   So I knitted some black fingerless mitts.

Sashiko is a type of Japanese running stitch.  So first I used my paper template as I had done in the past.

Here’s the result.

First of all, I’m not thrilled with my technique.  It’s uneven looking.  Also, one false move and you can pull out an entire line of stitches.  So I yanked it out.  This was entirely too easy to do.

Next I found a pattern from Sublime Stitching that I thought I’d try out.

Again, my technique is uneven.  I like the looks of the little girl better than the little boy.  (I do also like the idea of the little boy on one mitt and the little girl on the other though!) I used the paper template once again, and it is just hard as heck for me to see what I am doing.  When I am stitching through the paper, the stitches seem even and nice, but when I pull the paper off, the stitches don’t look so nice.  I need practice.  I do need the paper template though because I need some type of stabilizer.  I just need to improve on my technique.

So then I had one more idea.  I’d make a potholder and embroider on it.  I used Brown Sheep Bulky and made two squares which I seamed together (after I embroidered on one of them).  I asked Davey to write down his name for me.  (He’s still working on perfecting his technique as well!)  Then I took a picture of it, printed it out, and used it as my template.  Here is the result.  I actually do like this.  I used yarn as my embroidery thread, and I think this is what I will try next time (instead of the too slick floss).