The Russian Spoke Stitch and the Russian Spoke Picot were invented by a lady named Olivia Longacre Wertman to mimic the look of Russian darning. Here’s an example of Russian darning on a net tablecloth that my grandmother, Gertrud Wirth, embroidered a long time ago.
Mrs. Wertman’s instructions (with very good step-by-step photos, by the way) were published in 1900. You can read them free of charge on Google books–just search her name. Look under the title “Relief Crochet.”
When I first read about the Russian Spoke Stitch and the Picot, I thought, “This is so clever! Why haven’t I seen this before? Why hasn’t someone resurrected this stitch? Why isn’t anyone teaching about it? Why aren’t they publishing cool patterns with it?”
As these questions hung in the air, a revelation arrived, and stood there tapping its foot. “Hello-o-o-o-o,” it called. “Anybody home? Coo-ee! Suza-a-a-a-annnnnn, are you there?”
Oh! Wait a minute! I get it! Could the person who resurrects this stitch be…me? How about if I teach about it? Could the person who publishes cool patterns with this stitch be me as well?
“Um, yeah. Okay. Sure,” said the revelation, rolling its eyes. “About time.”
So, this is what we have so far:
- The Russian Spoke Flower in Crochet Garden: pages 100-101. It’s the pink flower above.
- The Russian Picot Daisy in Crochet Garden: pages 76-77 (the lavender and purple flower above). Both flower samples are crocheted with Cascade Yarns Cascade 220.
- An opportunity to learn how to do these stitches in my class “Full of Bullion (Stitch, That Is)”at the Knit & Crochet Show (Instructions for the crocheted insertion below are in the class hand-out.)
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A how-to article and gorgeous capelet pattern in an upcoming issue of Crochet! magazine.
UPDATE: “The Double Bullion: A New Take on a Vintage Stitch,” Crochet! pp. 22 ff., Vol. 25, No. 3, Autumn 2012. Shoulder wrap pattern: “Purple Haze Shoulder Scarf,” Crochet! pp. 24 ff., Vol. 25, No. 3, Autumn 2012.
- And a Russian Picot Daisy Tutorial, soon on this blog.
Now I look forward to seeing what you do with these new/old stitches!
