Cretan stitch is one of the first I learned and it remains a favorite. I usually use an open cretan stitch, but have been playing with the closed version as well as echoing cretan stitches. After a few practice stitches on my doodle cloth, I embellished a few seams on my CQ sampler with this old favorite.
Below I combined cretan stitch with detached chain and fly stitch, then worked some beads into it.
Below I combined cretan stitch with detached chain and fly stitch, then worked some beads into it.
