U count 2 then you stitch as you do on Aida.

I've been wondering this myself, lately. My grandmother taught me to stitch on Aida, that's all she and I have ever used. But I've seen some really beautiful hand dyed linens that have me thinking about trying linen. I don't know about stitching over 2, I've never tried it, so I'm looking forward to see what other responses this post gets. Aida is just so easy! But maybe it's time to branch out :o)

Look closely at the Aida. You are actually stitching over 4 threads woven in a special way & leaving the little holes. Aida count is by holes; evenweave is by the threads of the fabric, which are not pushed together during the weaving. This is mostly true of linen too. A thick thread is counted as 1 thread, the same as a thin thread.

Once you try stitching on linen you will love the way it looks, especially on projects where there is a lot of the fabric showing. It comes in wonderful colours and gives your projects a real heirloom look. It's not as difficult as it sounds stitching over 2. Go for it !

I am a seasoned stitcher but have never used linen. I purchased a piece recently and am going to try it when I decide what I want to do with it. When I started stitching about all you could get was Aida cloth so that is what everyone was using. I am open to trying new things so linen is my next lesson. I have done a few l things in waste canvas but that doesn't seem as popular as it once was. The best lesson I have learned is use what is comfortable for you at first then you can branch and try new fabrics.

Miss Kitty is so right. There's only one trick to starting on evenweave or linen, after that it's count up 2 & over 2.

You know fabric has horizontal & vertical threads. Bring your needle up for the first time in the hole that's just left of a vertical thread, & just below the horizontal thread. In Tic Tac Toe, this would be the SE, or lower-left opening.

After that it's up 2 threads & over 2 threads to find the hole to put the needle in to get to the backside. This is handy, because if you ever come up in a hole that's not a lower-left, you know you went over 1 or over 3 somewhere.

PS: Linen is THE fabric, but I like Lugana & Jobelan, and such. They're all or mostly cotton, have uniform threads, and may be easier to try stitching on.

It's fabulous and you'll love the finished project. All the stitchers are giving excellent advice. I went from Aida to Lugana. Using Lugana will help you get used to stitching over 2 threads. When you are comfortable with the technique you will find stitching on linen as easy as on Aida.

Wow, what some powerful advice you all have. Again, I am new at the linen fabric and I saw this and am just overcome with confidence. The thing that scares me is this: I'm so used to Aida, I'm looking for a hole somewhere and linen doesn't have any. My brain freaks out and shouts "WHERE'S THE HOLE, WHERE DO I GO, WHERE DO I START"? But dang it, I'm going for it this weekend!

Thanks Ladies. You are truly knowledgeable and build confidence in those of us that loves challenges, but afraid.