Stitch Explorations: Figure 8 Cable Chain

Playing around with the cable chain stitch, I came up with a figure 8 cable chain. I thought other people might enjoy seeing how I did it.

It was sort of an accident......
I began with  a chain stitch

to make the cable and second chain, I wrapped the thread around the needle counterclockwise once

inserted the needle into and out of the fabric

then wrapped the needle counterclockwise once

pulling the needle through made a figure 8

I tried several times, hoping to be able to create perfect 8's

sometimes they'd twist, or pull out of shape when I created the next stitch

so I tried it with ribbon to see if a thicker 'thread' would hold the shape better........
it seemed to work and the figure 8 can be easily seen

but it still wasn't as stable as I hoped it would be.....


so then I wondered if doing a double wrap might help to lock the shape

the two bottom rows were my attempts with 2 wraps counterclockwise, inserting the needle, then a double wrap counterclockwise before pulling the needle through......

it seems a bit more precise and even

I tried it with a firmer thread.......and the 8's hold better, but sometimes it still twists......

maybe I need to do some more explorations on the figure 8!
I'd be interested in seeing your results if you try this. Happy stitching.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz