Catching up. I had a couple of amazingly busy weeks in there.
I realized, looking at these stitches that my issue is not so much “how do I learn this?” or “what weird things can I do with these stitches in a straight line?” but rather, “How the heck could i use these in a finished piece of embroidery?” My samplers are full of variations. The transition to stitching in a finished piece is sorely lacking. Hence the bouquet in buttonhole stitch, and my use of these three stitches to finish my little complimentary Elmow of my parrot-squid-cthulu! I think he turned out cute. 
And because I’ve become fascinated by the look of photos of embroidery from odd angles, here’s my beauty shot of this one! 
Click any of these to see them in more detail! 🙂
These are all stitched on fabric samples I received from an interior designer that was going out of business. They’re the perfect size for trying out designs and stitches, and have a built-in margin at the top to bind into a book when I’m done with the year. 🙂
So pretty! I love octupii/kraken/chluthlu, as evidenced by one of my Pinterest boards https://pinterest.com/elmsleyr/octupii-clhuthlu-kraken/. If you back up a directory, you’ll find heaps of historic (and modern!) embroidery pieces as well, for your enjoyment. Click on the pic to go back to the original source of the picture.
Oh so lovely, and well chosen colors!
Beautiful stitching.
Beautiful! Love the pattern you have made. Kathy
Your cthulu is so cute ! I love it