thick soft silk or
wool. Begin as in rope stitch, keeping your thread in the same position.
Then put your needle into the stuff just above the thread stretched
under your thumb, and bring it out just below and in a line with where
it went in; lastly, keep the needle above the loose end of the thread,
draw it through, tightening the thread upwards, and you have the first
of your knots: the rest follow at intervals determined by your wants.

[Sidenote: TO WORK D.]

The more open stitch at D is practically the same thing, except that
in crossing the running thread you take up more of the stuff on each
side of it.

[Illustration: 29. ROPE-STITCH AND KNOT-STITCH SAMPLER.]

[Illustration: 30. ROPE-STITCH AND KNOT-STITCH SAMPLER (BACK).]

[Sidenote: TO WORK E.]

What is known by the name of "OLD ENGLISH KNOT-STITCH" (E) is a much
more complicated stitch. Keeping your thread well out of the way to the
right, put your needle in to the left, and take up vertically a piece of
the stuff the width of the line to be worked at its widest, and draw the
thread through. Then, keeping it under the thumb to the left, put your
needle, eye first, downwards, through the slanting stitch just made;
draw the thread not too tight, and, keeping it as before under the
thumb, put your needle, eye first, this time through the upper half only
of the slanting stitch, making a kind of buttonhole-stitch round the
last, and draw out your thread.

These knotted rope stitches, call them what you will, are rather ragged
and fussy--not much more than fancy stitches--of no great importance.
KNOTS used separately are of much more artistic account.

[Sidenote: TO WORK F.]

BULLION or ROLL-STITCH is shown in its simplest form in the petals of
the flowers F on the sampler, Illustration 29. To work one such petal,
begin by attaching the thread very firmly; bring your needle out at the
base of the petal, put it in at the tip, and bring it out once more at
the base, only drawing it partly through. With your right hand wind the
thread, say seven times, round the projecting point of the needle from
left to right. Then, holding the coils under your left thumb, your
thread to the right, draw your needle and thread through; and, dropping
the needle, and catching the thread round your little finger, take hold
of the thread with your thumb and first finger and draw the coiled
stitch to the right, tightening it gently until quite firm. Lastly, put
the needle throu