Embroidered Collage

I added variations of cretan stitch to my sampler for the Take a Stitch Challenge, but I can't really claim I played with it.  I'm still stuck on what format I want to use for some looser explorations, a subject which is playing into some other things on my mind right now. 

The more unusual variations on my sampler are actually from the book Creative Stitches by Edith John published in the late sixties.  She did some pretty interesting things with stitch structure.  For example, in one cretan variation diagram she pulled the thread back and wrapped it around the previous three stitches and, in another she alternated three stitches horizontal, then three vertical, with a smooth transition between them.  I have another interesting book by her called New Stitches for Needlecraft, which focuses on fewer stitches in even more unusual variations.  Both are Dover Editions.