Yes, I’m talking about Compensation.

So many stitchers don’t like compensation.  It’s a brain game.  It’s a challenge but it isn’t insurmountable.  You can do this!

There are a few tricks to compensation that I hope will help you.

Here’s the stitch I used on the main zecca poppy on the current mystery class.

Pretty, right?  But the entire motif covers 10 canvas threads.  That’s a bit more than 1/2 inch.  So no matter where you start you are going to have to compensate at the edges of some of the flowers.

One trick which is super handy if you have a straight edge that you are compensating up to is the “post-it-note” trick.  Put a post it note on your stitch diagram where your stitches need to end.

You can clearly see where each stitch will end.  The angle stays the same but the stitch is shorter.

You don’t want something that looks like this.

You want it to look like this.

Notice how the current stitches follow the same angle as the original ones.

Once you get used to this, its an easy upgrade to doing it directly on the canvas.

Put your needle where it should go to complete the stitch as diagrammed.  You will notice it is significantly in the next color.

Lay your thread along the line from the correct starting point to the correct ending point.  Look at what hole it crosses at the edge of the flower.  This is where your needle will go down.

Your stitch matches the angle as it should!  Yay!  Perfect compensation.

I hope this helps.  There really is no dodging compensation if you want to use different stitches in your needlepoint.

Happy Stitching.

xo
ruth