Ship's Ladder Stitch

The next stitch on my 100 Stitches Plus list is a very simple combination stitch.  Named the Ship's Ladder Stitch, it is made up of vertical and diagonal Straight Stitches.

I stitched this using perle cotton floss.  This is DMC Color Variations - number 3840.

The Ship's Ladder Stitch is worked from the bottom to the top.  First is the vertical stitching line.
To begin, I came up through the fabric at the base of the stitching line.  

I pulled all the way through and then went back into the fabric above where the thread first emerged and along the stitching line.

Next, I pulled all the way through to make the first vertical straight stitch:

I made the second vertical Straight Stitch in the same fashion:

then I just continued all along the stitching line:

Once the vertical stitching line was finished, I secured my floss on the back and then started with the diagonal Straight Stitches.  
Again, this is worked from bottom to top.  I came up through the fabric alongside the first Straight Stitch. You can see from the picture that I came up even with the middle of that first stitch:

After pulling all the way through, I went back into the fabric on the other side of the vertical stitching line. Notice this is at a diagonal slant:  

I pulled all the way through to make the first diagonal Straight Stitch.

For the second diagonal, the steps are the same as for the first.  I came back up through the fabric on the left side of the vertical stitching line:

And went back into the fabric on the right hand side:

I continued making these diagonals all along the vertical stitching line:

This is a look at the underside of my stitching:

And here is a look at the finished stitch.  
I like this stitch and I think it would be a useful one wherever a decorative straight line is needed. It is not such a good stitch for curved lines. 

This stitch is from Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.