A Simple Poinsettia for Needlepoint

This little ornament works up really fast - and is fun to do with different kinds of threads. It's one of several I did about ten years ago for a shop that had just opened, and wanted to hand out "freebies" as a promotional thing. The first one was worked with perle cotton - #5 for the slanted stitches, and #3 for the upright ones. The design itself is 3" square on 13 mesh canvas, but would be app. 4" on 13 mesh. The illustrated piece was done with novelty threads - as red YLI Ribbon Floss and red Frosty Rays for the flower, Flair for the green diamond shaped border around the flower, and Frosty Rays for the outer border. Just looking at the picture, I apparently had not discovered white Shimmer blend Ribbon Floss yet, and worked the white background stitches in silk. I would use white R.F. now, as it lies so flat, and is beautifully shiny.

I also, on this version, used a bead wherever I was doing diagonal Scotch Stitch, substituting the bead for #1 stitch in the sequence. This shows on the chart as a little circle where a stitch would otherwise be. The canvas with markings was done with a heavy hand so that you can see the markings necessary. A square 6" x 6" is right for the 18 mesh canvas - and the center grooves vertically and horizontally should be marked for guidance. Then, draw a 4 x 4 stitch square in the center where they meet (this will be the flower center) and make LIGHT dots on the diagonal. Later, you might want to paint these out before stitching a white background, but they are for easy placement of the flower stitches, inner border, and turning the corners. I use PILOT or a SHARPIE ultra fine point permanent pen for this work - they have proven safe over the years. Don't use a pencil, as the graphite will rub off on your threads. Never use a felt marker!
After marking the canvas, you are ready to begin: The center was done on this one with yellow Renaissance Sprinkles. Just follow the simple chart to finish. The arrow indicates the center groove. After stitching the flower and the leaves, the easiest way to start the light green border and have it finish properly at the top and sides, is to just count up two dots from the point of the small petal, and make the first stitch - study the chart!
To print these out for use, just click on the pictures to enlarge - they should print out for you actual size. I'll check it in a minute. If it doesn't work, I'll just practice some more tomorrow.