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I'm
starting this project using 4 strands. The red, white, and blue strands are
roughly 14 inches long. This will hopefully insure a FINISHED project length
of roughly 1 foot in length. The fourth strand, a clear strand, is roughly
FOUR TIMES as long as the other three, which is about 58 to 60 inches long in
this case. |

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The first
step is to tie these four strands together using a half-granny knot. (This is
the knot you use when tieing your shoes, right before you make the two loops
with your shoelaces). Make sure to leave between 1 and 1½ inches of loose
strand ABOVE the knot. You'll see why in a little bit... |

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To start
the first stitch, take your working strand, the clear one in this shot, and
make a loop OVER the center strands... |

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...and
then go DOWN and UNDER the center strands, as shown here... |

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...and
then complete the stitch by coming UP and THROUGH the loop you made
initially. |

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Pull the
working strand tight and your first Chinese Staircase stitch is complete! |

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Let's try
another one, alright? Start by making a loop on TOP of your central
strands... |

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...and
then come AROUND BEHIND the center strands and UP THROUGH the loop you made,
like this. |

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One more
stitch. Make a loop ON TOP OF your central strands... |

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...and
then go AROUND BEHIND the center strands as you come back UP and THROUGH the
initial loop you made. |

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Here's
what the stitch will look like after completing about an inch or so. |

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Take a
break for a second and let's get rid of that UGLY granny knot we started
with. We're going to convert the end of this project from using an UGLY knot
to using a short piece of Square stitch. |

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Push the
loose strand ends back into the knot to UNTIE the knot. |

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Use your
fingers to pull and stretch these strands back into a straight orientation. |

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If you
wait a minute, you'll see how the four strands WANT to lie, which is good.
When laid out this way, can you see what we have planned? |

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That's
right, we're going to do a Square Stitch. |

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After
doing 2 - 3 stitches of Square, do one more stitch, but leave it loose, so
that you can do the Completion Stitch. |

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After
returning to the other end of the project, continue doing stitches of Chinese
Staircase until your center strands are between 3 and 4 inches long. |

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Let these
strands lay where they may, no pun intended, and then orient them as shown to
get ready for the Square stitch. |

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Which
should look similar to this shot, once you've tightened it up a bit. |

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Again, do
2 - 3 stitches more of Square, followed by one loose stitch. Finish off by
doing a Completion Stitch for Square. |