Plaited Braid Stitch

Whenever possible, I like to save the best to last. On a piece like this, where so many of the stitches were new to me, it is difficult to know which technique will be ‘best’. I chose to leave the stitch that intrigued me the most; the stitch that I had heard and read so much about. Opinion seems to be divided over Plated Braid Stitch; it is a marmite stitch, you either love it or you hate it. I have often read that it is a difficult. I think that it is like many of the other stitches I have learnt on this sampler; the mechanics of the stitch are not difficult to follow but practice and patience are needed to get the correct and consistent tension on the loops.

I read the instructions through a couple of times before attempting the stitch. There are several steps involved in the making of each complete ‘link’ and I had to refer back to the instructions frequently at first while practicing on my doodle cloth. After a few repetitions I got into a rhythm and was able to do the stitch on the sampler pretty much from memory except for the first link, which is worked slightly differently.

Plaited Braid Stitch
© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

The tension is not as consistent as I would have liked but I am pretty pleased with my first attempt at PBS.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching