The Upper Valley in Blackwork

Our first tutorial is a map of the Upper Valley (as defined by the Valley News) that I designed in the counted-thread embroidery style known as blackwork. The pattern is a pdf that includes instructions, a preview, a single-page version of the pattern, and a three-page version for easier reading. Download it here: Upper Valley Blackwork Map.

I didn't define blackwork in the previous post because I knew this was coming right up. Despite its name, the central identifying trait of blackwork is not the black on white color scheme; there are ample historical examples in other colors. Instead, blackwork is distinguished by the fact that "solid" regions are filled in with repetitive stitch patterns that are actually quite open. It is also common, though not necessary, that the patterns allow the stitched fabric to be reversible. This requires that the patterns be connected so you do not need to cross between them on one side and not the other, or start and stop threads in the middle of the fabric to avoid such crossing. Wikipedia's blackwork page has a lot of good pictures, and Nordic Needle has a page with history, materials, and methods for blackwork.

Lovely fill patterns that are historical or in the historical style are freely available, and from them I would most recommend Ensamplario Atlantio, a collection by Kim Brody Salazar. However, I suffer that strain of DIY mania common to crafters, and created my own fills from each town's initials. You may wish to replace them, and, in particular, if you want to make a reversible piece of work you will have to replace most of them. In case you'd like to crop the map, in simplifying the town boundaries (and shifting them a bit so the littlest towns still had a decent amount of space) I made sure boundary intersections all happen at grid corners.

The traditional stitch to use for blackwork is double running stitch, also known as Holbein stitch. Needlework Tips and Techniques has a whole page on double running stitch, aimed at blackwork and complete with video.

It will be a while before I finish mine. I'm working with 32 count linen; it's really not very even for an evenweave, but since I'm stitching over two threads to make it 16 count, things average out a bit. I'm using one strand of black (DMC 310) embroidery floss. I started in the middle and have five towns finished: Norwich, Hanover, Hartford, Lebanon, and Hartland.