Victorian Stairstep

The Victorian Stairstep is a sentimental favorite stitch of mine because I used it on my very first teaching piece, a long time ago, before you all were born I'm sure!

I like this stitch in two colors, though it will work in one. It has a definite diagonal feel to it, even though it's worked on a straight line. This makes it a useful stitch to use in places where you don't want to use a slanted stitch, but you want a diagonal line.

This stitch will pull the canvas slightly, so be sure to use it when you are stitching on a frame. My sample is stitched in Pebbly Perle and Gold Rush 14, and they cover pretty well on 18-count canvas. I stitched the Pebbly Perle as it came from the card, but you can also take the plies apart and put them back together to enhance your coverage.

I would recommend stitching a single row across the widest part of the area in which you are stitching Victorian Stairstep. Then your counting is easier as you work upward and downward from that original row.

Victorian Stairstep