The Tornado Stitch |
The Tornado Stitch is another slightly more complex stitch; the cousin of the
Quad Stitch. Think of this stitch as four Circle Stitches, arranged in a
square, versus a rectangle, as in Twist or CorkScrew. You'll need four strands
of scoubidou for this stitch, each being the SAME length. There are NO long
strands used in this stitch. With strands 4-feet long, I can make between 4 and
6-inches of Twist, depending on how tightly I pull the stitches.
RECOMMENDATION: You should know how to do the Circle
Stitch and Twist Stitch before
attempting this stitch. If you have additionally done a CorkScrew Stitch, this is even better, as
you'll have more experience working with this many strands. I might also
suggest that you either complete, or refer to, the Quad
Stitch page before attempting this stitch.
|
|
Start with
four strands of scoubidou, each cut to the SAME length. I'll use lilac,
pastel yellow, baby blue, and pink in this example. |
|
After finding the centers, place the centers of
two of the strands across the centers of the other two, like this... |
|
Make four
loops and proceed to make one Quad Stitch... |
|
...after
tightening the Quad Stitch, we're ready to continue. |
|
I want to
hide the large loops at the top of this stitch, simply for looks sake, so I'll
turn the stitch UPSIDE DOWN, so I'm looking at the large loops. |
|
Create one
additional Quad Stitch and pull this one VERY tightly, so as to shrink the
end as much as possible. (You could simply do one Tornado Stitch here, but as
this is your first time, stick to something you know.) |
|
Remember
that the Tornado is four Circle Stitches. When you create your initial four
loops, START with one of the central strands and make your loop CROSS OVER to
the other side of the same colored strand, as I am doing here with one of the
pink strands. |
|
The other
end of this strand (the other pink one) also needs to CROSS OVER the pink strands
in the earlier stitch to form its loop. Note the loops sit SIDE BY SIDE. You
do NOT cross the pink loops, just the underlying stitch. |
|
The second
strand forms its loops the same way. Starting with the one in the center,
CROSS OVER the earlier stitch, so that this strand now becomes an OUTSIDE
strand. Your remaining strand also CROSSES OVER the earlier stitch, now
becoming the second central strand. |
|
Here's
where people goof up doing the "circle" stitches. The first stitch
you weave with should ALWAYS be one of the CENTRAL strands. In this case, I'm
starting with the baby blue strand on the right side of the stitch, which if
you look closely, is on the INSIDE of the earlier stitch. |
|
Now I can
do the outside baby blue stitch, following the same rule of thumb used in
Quad: ALWAYS go OVER the NEAREST loop, then UNDER, OVER, and UNDER. If you
ALWAYS start with an OVER, and your stitch falls apart, you made an error in
the placement of your first four loops. |
|
Now for
the last strand. Remember, start with the INNER strand, then go OVER, UNDER,
OVER, and UNDER. This shot was quite fuzzy, but you can see that its placed
correctly. |
|
After
completing the last strand, notice how this stitch is also locked in place in
the same two locations that the Quad Stitch was. If your stitch falls apart
on you, it means you forgot to CROSS OVER something, either in the initial
placement of your four loops, or in one or more of your weaves. |
 |
Zoomed in
a bit, so as to show the detail of this stitch, here's what an inch or two of
Tornado looks like. |
The Tornado Stitch, properly completed!
|
|
|
