Laced Blanket Stitch

Time for another 100 Stitches Plus post!   This interesting stitch is the Laced Blanket Stitch.

This stitch is made up of two rows of Blanket Stitch with a space between the rows.  A third thread is used to lace the two rows together, forming a pattern over the space between the rows.  I chose a contrasting color for my lacing thread.

The rows need to be the same length so I used a ruler and a water soluble marking pen to draw guidelines.  I drew two guidelines for each row.  For me, this will make forming equally sized Blanket Stitches easier as well:

For my thread, I used a beautiful gray colored perle cotton.  This will be for the Blanket Stitches.  I used a contrasting thread for the lacing - this pink color variations perle cotton thread:

The first step is to work the Blanket Stitch along the guidelines.  The Blanket Stitches should be formed so that the "spine" of the stitch faces the spine of the stitches in the second row.

Now for the lacing with the contrasting thread:

Come up through the fabric at either end of either row.  I started at the left edge of the top row:

Just lace the two rows together by sliding the needle under and then over each Blanket Stitch back and forth between the rows.  Notice the needle is not going into the fabric, just sliding across the surface:

at the end, just go back into the fabric:

and secure your thread underneath:

I found this stitch in the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.