Today’s Sashiko pattern is named Dan Tsunagi - Linked Step Stitch. “Dan” means step or stair, and “Tsunagi” means connected or linked. It’s another Hitomezashi stitch pattern. These are made up of small straight lined stitches that build the pattern up in layers.
I found this pattern to be rather quick to execute. The first direction is a brick pattern of 1/4” alternating stitches per line. This same pattern is repeated on the other direction, which connects the first to create the linked steps.
I used a rainbow sashiko thread for one direction, and a variegated yellow/orange thread for the other direction. This was stiched onto cotton dyed with Cochineal, one side using all distilled water and the other using my studio’s well water. Cochineal is a dye material that is very sensitive to the water you use, and I’ve found that my well water pushes the color more towards a purple, while the distilled water leaned more into pink. Both are beautiful colors, and it’s nice to know how to shift the Cochineal to either color by just using a different water source.
