Stitched Racquet Tutorial

This is a really easy, one evening tutorial resulting in some smashing wall decoration.  Have fun with it, make up whatever pattern you fancy using the strings of the racquet as a guide.

You will need:

 - A racquet or two... or three.  I picked mine up for $2 each from Vinnies.
 - Some wool.  I used skeins of tapestry wool.
 - A needle with a big enough eye to thread wool through.  (This is optional.  You could just thread the wool through the racquet strings by hand but I found a needle was easier.  I'd recommend a blunt ended needle to avoid stabbing of fingers. ouch)

First things first:  How to thread that quite chunky wool through the eye of a needle.

1. Loop your wool over the needle

2. Pull the wool taut over the needle, grip it between your fingers and slide it along the needle towards the eye.  Slide it right past the eye, right over the end, keep a tight grip of the thread.

3. Push the thread under the eye of the needle and up through the eye of the needle.

4. Pull the loop of thread through the eye a bit.

5. Pull the short end all the way through the eye and the needle is now threaded.

Now just get threading that wool through the strings of the racquet in whatever pattern takes your fancy.

1. The only trick to master is securing your wool so that it doesn't unravel.  Do this by wrapping the start of your thread underneath your first few stitches:  Hold the end with your finger whilst you do your first couple of stitches over the end of the thread.  Keep going for a few more stitches and then the end should feel nice and secure.  

2 & 3. Keep going through the strings of the racquet.  I found that it took 4 stitches to fill a square.

4. When you reach the end of your pattern or need to switch colours thread the needle under the back of the last few stitches.

5 & 6. Pull the thread through and trim the end.