100 Stitches - Spanish Knotted Feather Stitch

Time for another installment of my journey through 100 Stitches!  This is the Spanish knotted feather stitch. A beautiful stitch isn't it?

This is a stitch I have wanted to feature and tried to do several times before.  However, I just couldn't "get" how to do it.  I was so confused by the explanation and accompanying pictures in 100 Stitches.  I tried again yesterday and finally in frustration, I did a net search and came up with this extremely helpful how to on YouTube.  It was done by Mary Corbet of Needle 'n Thread.  She has a such a wonderful website and blog with beautiful pictures too!  Anyway, just watching her video once answered all my questions and I was able to do the stitch.
 

Here, after a little practice, is how I did my stitch.  For my demonstration, I am using this gorgeous pearl cotton floss.  It is dmc color variations #4210 radiant ruby. I am also debuting the latest addition to my embroidery hoop collection, this little 4" hoop:

I am doing this stitch from top to bottom - that is how 100 Stitches demonstrates the stitch.  A helpful tip from the Mary Corbet video is to draw three parallel guidelines - it makes all the difference to doing this stitch!  I drew mine spaced 1/8" apart:

 The first step is to come up on the right hand guide line.  Come up a little below the starting end of the line:

Pull your floss all the way through.  Now go back into the fabric at the top end of the middle guide line.  Slant your needle to the left:

Come back out of the fabric on the left guideline:

Notice the needle tip is emerging under the working thread:

Now bring the working thread over the needle tip - the working thread is going to go over then under the needle:

So it looks like this:

Start pulling the needle through and this loop will start forming:

 Pull all the way and you will have this slanted stitch.

Now the needle goes back into the fabric on the middle guideline.  It is going to go into the fabric between the two threads making up the slanted stitch.  It will go in on the middle guide line slanting to the right.  The needle will emerge on the right guide line:

Once again, bring the working thread over the needle:

and then under the needle:

and pull the needle through, forming a loop

 Pull all the way through and a right slanting stitch is formed:

Now the needle goes back into the fabric on the middle guide line.  Notice it is going between the two threads of the right slanting stitch.

Slant this stitch to the left and the needle emerges on the left guide line.

Again, the working floss goes over/under the needle:

 Pull and form the loop:

and then go back into the fabric on the middle guide line.  Just keep doing these steps until your line of stitching is complete.

Here is a view of the finished stitching without the guide lines:

and here is what the underside of the stitching looks like:

I love this stitch now and I certainly want to express my thanks to Mary Corbet for the excellent stitch tutorial she provided on her video!
The Spanish Knotted Feather Stitch is #59 and is in the Knotted Stitches section of 100 Stitches.  This was the eighth and final stitch in the knotted stitches section. I think the knotted stitches have become my favorite category of stitches so far :)