Hardanger Embroidery

Kloster (Satin Stitch) Blocks
 
Use pearl cotton size 5 for 25 ct fabric or size 8 for 32 ct fabric. Kloster blocks always consist of five stitches worked over four threads of the fabric.
 
Whenever possible, work from the outside towards the inside as follows:
Bring the needle up at 1
Insert it at 2,
Bring it up again at 3,
insert it at 4, etc.

When you have inserted the needle at 2, never bring it up at 4. the needle must always be brought up on the opposite side, at 3, to avoid problems when the fabric threads are cut.

To move from one block to the next, proceed as indicated on the diagram - insert the needle at 10 and bring it up at 11 - so the back side will also look neat.

Making diagonals (used in diamond shapes, for example) involves alternating vertical and horizontal kloster blocks.

For a neat reverse side, move from a vertical block to a horizontal block as follows:
 
Come up at 3,
insert needle at 4,
come up at 5,
insert needle at 4
 
To move from a horizontal block to a vertical block:
• come up at 7,
• insert needle at 6,
• come up at 7,
• insert needle at 8.

This how-to is excerpted with permission from "Hardanger Embroidery" by Frederique Marfaing (Stackpole Books).