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Box and diagonal stitches · Beginner

Cashmere stitch

A rectangular box stitch two threads wide and three tall: a tent stitch, two longer stitches, and a tent stitch.

Cashmere stitch: the finished stitch on canvas, 24 stitches, all slanting up to the right, in two colors
The finished stitch on canvas. Every stitch runs from one hole to another; the two colors are only there to tell the stitches apart. In the steps, new stitches are red, and the numbers give the order: up at an odd number, down at the next even one.

How to work it

  1. Start with a tent stitch

    Cashmere stitch, step 1: the first stitch on the canvas. Numerals 1 and 2 mark its ends, in working order.

    Work a tent stitch over one intersection, in the top left corner of a rectangle two threads wide and three tall.

  2. Work two longer stitches

    Cashmere stitch, step 2: three stitches on the canvas, the two this step adds in red. Numerals 3 to 6 mark the ends of the new stitches, in working order.

    Below it, work two diagonal stitches, each over two intersections, one under the other.

  3. The last tent stitch

    Cashmere stitch, step 3: four stitches on the canvas, the one this step adds in red. Numerals 7 and 8 mark its ends, in working order.

    Finish with a tent stitch at the lower right.

  4. The next rectangle

    Cashmere stitch, step 4: eight stitches on the canvas, the four this step adds in red.

    Work the next rectangle beside it, to the right in the picture, so that the two share the holes along the edge between them. The next row of rectangles lies directly below and shares holes in the same way.

At a glance

Used for
backgrounds; buildings and paving; filling areas large or small
Coverage
Full
Direction
Slanted up to the right
Stitch length
Over 1 or 2 intersections

Cashmere is mosaic stretched into a rectangle. The rectangles line up side by side and one above the other in a tidy grid, which suits buildings and paving. Offsetting the blocks so that they step down a diagonal is a variation called staggered cashmere.

Every stitch in a cashmere block is a true diagonal, crossing the same number of canvas threads each way, as tent stitch does. One teacher works cashmere blocks into an area of tent stitch to add texture. As a background, the blocks give an all-over texture of small rectangles.

The name covers two layouts, and sources do not agree on which is the plain one. Most current diagrams show separate blocks lined up in a grid, as on this page. A nineteenth-century encyclopedia and at least one current stitch list describe cashmere as worked in diagonal rows, one stitch over one intersection and then two over two. One stitch reference calls that version condensed cashmere, and notes that a stitch dictionary of 1934 also called it plain cashmere.

Its close relatives are mosaic and Scotch stitch.

Tips

  • Think of each block as a tent stitch, two longer stitches and a tent stitch. You can then work the blocks across, down or along a diagonal and the result is the same.

When it goes wrong

Part blocks at the edge of a shape.
Carry the pattern as far as it fits, then fill what is left with shorter stitches at the same angle. Plain tent stitches are an accepted substitute where a part block would look awkward.

Variations

  • Condensed or diagonal cashmere. The blocks run together down a diagonal, the small stitch at the end of one block serving as the start of the next. Shops suggest it for architecture, for areas that want movement and as a quick, well-covering background that is easy to compensate.
  • Cashmere checker. Cashmere blocks with tent stitch in place of every other block.

Questions

What is the difference between cashmere and mosaic stitch?
One stitch. Mosaic is a tent stitch, one longer stitch and a tent stitch, on a square two threads each way. Cashmere has two longer stitches, which makes the block three threads tall.

Where to go next

Stitches

Guides