st long enough to prevent the last embroidered squares from
being too tightly stretched.

On reaching the corner, you cross the threads of the next row, as shown
in fig. 640. The first threads of the second side form the foundation of
the corner square; from the second corner square you pass to the third;
from the third to the fourth, carrying your thread alternately over and
under the threads that were stretched for the first corner.

LOOP STITCH (POINT D'ESPRIT) (figs. 641 and 642).--This is a light
open stitch, chiefly used for making a less transparent foundation than
plain netting. Fasten the thread to the middle of one bar of the
netting, then make a loose loop to the middle of the top bar of the same
square, fig. 641, by carrying the thread, from left to right, over one
vertical and one horizontal bar of the net and inserting the needle
downwards from above under the bar and in front of the working thread.
For the second row back, also represented in fig. 641, you draw the
needle through, underneath the bar above the loop stitch and make the
loop upwards from below; in doing this the working thread must lie to
the left, in front of the needle. Fig. 642 shows how to join the rows
and pass the needle through the stitches of the preceding row.

[Illustration: FIG. 641. LOOP STITCH. 1ST AND 2ND COURSE OF THE THREAD.]

[Illustration: FIG. 642. LOOP STITCH. SEVERAL ROWS COMPLETED.]

[Illustration: FIG. 643. STAR FORMED OF LOOSE THREADS LAYING THE
UNDERNEATH THREADS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 644. STAR FORMED OF LOOSE THREADS. LAYING THE UPPER
THREADS.]

STAR COMPOSED OF LOOSE THREADS (figs. 643, 644, 645).--This star
covers 16 squares of netting. Fasten the thread to the middle knot of
the 16 squares, then carry it diagonally over 4 squares, three times
from left to right under a knot of the foundation and three times from
right to left. In this way, the bottom rays of the star are formed. For
the stitches that complete the figure, you start from the middle and
following the direction of the little arrow in the illustration, you
cover the netting with 3 horizontal and 3 vertical threads, carried
over 4 squares. When you have laid the vertical threads, slip the needle
4 or 5 times round in a circle, under the diagonal and over the straight
threads, but always over the bars of the netting. This completes the
star, as it is represented in fig. 645. Care must be taken to make the
stitches lie quite flat side by side, an