The Octagonal Borders Are Giving Me Trouble

If the long borders were looking monolithic, the large octagonal ones looked like a huge outcrop in the middle of nowhere!

So, as before, I’m playing with tacking stitch divisions to see whether I can plan some shapes that will give me a start.

These borders are too narrow, I think. They are the size that works in the long borders, but the different outline shape makes a difference, I think.

And I don’t think this works, either. The broader border somehow seems to make the shape unbalanced, which is very peculiar when it seems closer to dividing the shape into thirds on the diagonal.

At this point, I started to think in different directions. Maybe, instead of geometric divisions, I should think of a large “hero” stitch or stitched motif, which has rivers of stitching around it, or even one single other pattern running around it. Hmmm….

So this next picture, believe it or not, is playing with that idea.

The red stranded cotton is placing the main skeleton stitches for a stitch motif called Milanese Pinwheel (another one which looks a lot like a patchwork motif to me!). The visual effect is a bit square in comparison with the real thing, not as helpful as I hoped – I may just have to Be Brave and be ready for a lot of unpicking!