The Ceylon stitch between the dog rose and the pearl rose was wobbly, as Eowyn pointed out.

So I’ve re-done it.

I used 3 strands of forest green DMC, and one strand of Jap No 1. I wanted to use thread (not gold thread) to be kinder to the ground, which is a bit harassed.

It certainly looks a lot, lot better than it did.

My Ceylon stitching is still far from perfect. Each row is supposed to look like two chain stitches side by side, with some backing going on behind it. I’ve got that happening in patches, but not all the way through. The gold causes any changes in tension to stand out.

Tension, tension, tension (of the thread). Gotta get it right.

I decided it needed a little more gold, and so did straight stitches over 1 in Lurex.

So now, a greener sampler :

Much straighter!