100 Stitches - Punch Stitch

No, this is not a little embroidered window, this is the Punch Stitch!  This is the latest stitch I have learned from my 100 Stitches book. 

I say learned but I am not really sure that I am doing the stitch correctly!

According to 100 Stitches, this stitch is used in a variety of ways.  It can be used as a filling stitch over an image of squares or dots in a grid.  It can also be used in Drawn Fabric Embroidery {I don't know anything about Drawn Fabric embroidery but I see that there are nine different stitches in the Drawn Fabric section of 100 Stitches so I will know about it soon enough!}

If this stitch is used as a filling stitch, a punch needle is supposed to be used to make holes to stitch multiple times through.   I don't have a punch needle so I used a wider woven fabric - 22 count Aida cloth - {I first learned about this cloth here} to try to compensate for the holes.  I drew the grid that is shown in 100 Stitches:

The stitch starts out being worked from right to left.  So I came up through the fabric on the right hole of the second row.

Then back into the fabric on the right hole of the top row:

Come back out of the fabric in the same hole where the thread first emerged - the middle row right:

Pull all the way through and this creates a straight stitch:

Now go back into the fabric in the top row right hole and come back out at a diagonal in the next hole to the left of the second row:

Pull all the way through and a second straight stitch is formed and you are ready to start the whole process again:

Just like before, go back into the fabric on the top hole and stitch to the left to finish the row.

This ends up with three sets of two straight stitches. 

There were no instructions about what to do with the thread at this point, just that you turn the hoop upside down and work the same way as before making the next vertical row:

Starting on the right again:

and working your way across the row:

Now turn the hoop right side up again and start across the third row:

When you complete that row it should look like this:

The next step is to turn the hoop sideways {!} and start at what is now the right side hole of the second row:

Just stitch across in the same fashion:

as before:

and when you complete that row, turn the hoop upside down and start stitching from right to left:

Just like before - stitch all the way across:

When you are done, you will have a completed punch stitch:

It is a beautiful stitch:

and is really interesting on the underside:

I think the reason I don't know if I am doing this stitch correctly is that there was no mention of what to do with the thread at the left end of each row...there isn't another hole to take a diagonal stitch to so I just took a second straight stitch.  I think that is the obvious way to finish, but if anyone knows anything about this stitch or if I am doing something wrong, I would love to hear from you!

The floss I used is floss - pearl cotton DMC color variations #4210 - radiant ruby.  This stitch is #74 and is in the Couching and Filling Stitches section of 100 Stitches.