Embroidered Collage

I didn't enjoy the double buttonhole stitches when I first did them (on the right) because they kept getting out of control.  Stitching was easier and the effect was more attractive when I put them closer together.  That little larks head effect does add a nice bit of texture to the pattern. 

The knotted buttonhole changed the look of the stitch from the plain since it preserved that little loop.  I remember doing this one quite a bit on some of my early atcs, more by accident since I couldn't get the single buttonhole to behave properly.  I tried a pattern stitch, but it failed miserable so I ditched it and tried some random play instead, changing the distance between stitches and how many buttonholes and so forth.  I'll definitely be using this effect on my art somewhere.

The venetian stitch was another I tried in two concentrations, to see if it made any difference.  My fingers fumbled a bit on this one and at first I couldn't figure out why someone would choose it over the knotted since it was more difficult, but the join is more subtle and more attractive.  It's unlikely to matter on my work, but I'll keep it in mind. 

The ceylon stitch was a horribly loopy pain to work, mostly because I was following the instructions to make the loops quite a bit looser than I thought they had to be.  And it did turn out well, but it seems to be just another name for doing buttonhole around the eye piece instead of around the loop piece.  Making a ladder-like border of it was kind of fun, though.