Cross stitch isn't the only stitch: half stitches, beads, French knots, and backstitch
Full cross stitch is most of a sampler, but not all of it. Shading needs a half stitch, a highlight often wants a bead or a French knot instead of thread, and an outline reads better as backstitch than as one more row of crosses. Heddle now supports all four, alongside the full stitch it already had.
What each one is for
- Half stitch — a square split diagonally into two triangles, each its own color or left empty. Good for shading and soft edges a full stitch can’t make.
- Bead — sits on top of a square, thread or not. For sparkle, not for color you plan to count in floss.
- French knot — a raised dot of thread, the usual choice for eyes, flower centers, and other small details.
- Backstitch — a straight line drawn corner to corner, not square to square, for outlines and fine lines that would look blocky as stitches.
Where you’ll see them
A handful of library motifs already use these layers, so open one and see what it looks like before trying it yourself. Beyond the library, the canvas has its own tool for each stitch type, so you can add a half stitch, a bead, a knot, or a backstitch line anywhere on your design, in any color already in your palette.
The floss list and skein estimates account for all of it: half stitches count as half a stitch of thread, knots and backstitch are counted separately, and beads are listed on their own since they aren’t thread at all.
Recoloring still works the way you’d expect. Every layer of a motif shares the same palette, so changing one color updates the half stitches, beads, knots, and backstitch that use it along with the full stitches.