Over 1, Over 2....What?

1 over 2, 2 over 2, 2 over 1 etc….what does it all mean ?

If you are new to cross stitching please have a look at Cross Stitch Instructions

X over Y
Once you have grasped simple cross stitching, you may then wonder what people mean when they talk about stitching X over Y.

X
So, in simple terms X is the number of strands of your thread (most thread is provided in 6 strands and you will need to separate these). So 1 over, is 1 strand, 2 over is 2 strands etc.

Y
Y is the number of threads in the material. So, 1 over 2 means 1 strand of floss over 2 strands in the material.

 

For example this is over 1:

 

and this is over 2:

 

 

Stitching over two is mostly done on higher count material. Please note that stitching over two will double the size of the image ie. stitching over 2 on 32 count material will give the same end dimensions as stitching over 1 on 16 count.