Happy Friday!

TLDR: I have some exciting things for you this week! This week, we will be discussing the double brick stitch, a few WIPs, a knitting pattern I have my eyes on, the face wipes I keep in my bag, my favorite non-sticky vitamin C serum, and a few glimmers from this week.

It’s the happiest hour to treat yourself to that big project you’ve had on your wishlist ✨ Dining room chairs, footstools, belts, luggage racks, cushions, you name it!✨ Today, August 22, is the KC Needlepoint Happy Hour sale!

KC Needlepoint does an incredible job championing my art and representing my work. From 3 pm to Midnight CST, stitchers can shop Thorn Alexander at 20% off online. This week’s newsletter is a little chaotic to get it to you in time for the sale!

I’ll be here with my color cards if you’d like any assistance in picking out threads— consider me your color concierge!

Let me know below what canvas you are eyeing and what types of threads are your favorites, and I’ll create a thread pairing list just for you. Need help with picking out stitches? Let’s do it! Let me know what kind of stitches you enjoy.

Let’s dive in!

STITCH OF THE WEEK:

Double Brick Stitch:

Stitch of the week + a WIP (work in progress) or UFO (unfinished object)! 🤍 The textured Double Brick Stitch serves as a second wave to the vertical skillsets from the last lesson (The Bargello Wave). With its alternating columns and rows of two straight stitches, it makes for a micro-wavey stitch!

Uses: With its sturdy, stacked look, this stitch simulates paved stones, masonry, and tiled surfaces. Use it for walls, roofs, walkways, or structural designs that need a sense of solidity and formality. It would also be great to depict landscape features like grass, like in the example I’ve shown below. While it technically is a full-coverage stitch, the background *can* show through. So opt for a chunkier wool (like Appletons or Anchor) or plan to use a color that complements the canvas’s painted color.

CHARTS:

Here you can see how I’ve used double brick to make grass in my WIP!

Compensating stitches:

Need help compensating stitches? I’ve got you covered:

Bookmark these for future inspiration, or feel free to browse my archive at a later date.

If you would like to tag along, I invite you to pick up a project hiding in your closet or start fresh to make a sampler on a blank swatch of canvas.

Want to jump ahead? I have two sampler guides available on my website. There is no overlap in the guides, so they build on each other. I’ll be jumping between them for stitchspiration. Volume II includes alphabet charts (unique to my other charts), a quick how-to paint guide, and more. They are digital only, as I live in Canada, but make for great access on the go on your mobile device.

Brooke's Sampler Guides

In the meantime, these posts will be free, and charts can be found below!

xo,

Brooke

Current WIP:

I have really loved working on both big and small projects lately. Above is my moon keyfob for my Happy Stitching Collab, and the other is my large barn owl. The moon is stitched and is ready to wriggle into the leather self-finishing element.

For the owl, I am thinking of maybe finishing a series of woodland animals as dining room chair cushions! Since I snapped this photo, I’ve worked on the white and the posie on the face—while watching the new Amanda Knox tv show on Hulu. It’s really working up well so far!

TIP: Sometimes when working in basketweave, I turn my canvas 180 degrees. I still follow the steps and poles as I would right side up.

Project TIP!

I really don’t love working with ribboned threads, but they work up so beautifully. Maria at In Stitches in Dorset, VT, taught me this trick a decade ago, and it’s an MVP tip when working with threads like Fyre Werks or Neon Rays +. Once you’ve threaded your strand through the needle, send the point of the ribbon back through the ribbon to catch it— and start stitching!

Now, the thread will fray, and it will break free, but it at least helps support your stitching for a fair amount of time before you start back at square one.

Recent finish and Project Planning!

I can’t show you juuuust yet, but I recently made a creamy, glittery shawl for a dear friend who is eloping next month— stay tuned.

As for the following projects, I am currently knitting up a swatch for the Dagmar designs by Petite Knit. I am really torn between the jacket (cardigan) and the sweater (pullover). Want to chime in? Let me know which one you like best—also torn as to what wool to work with! One of my fathers-in-law just got a job in Dublin for the winter/spring, so I’m hoping to knit one up in time for a visit!

Weekly Glimmers & Favorites:

What I’m reading:

A little side hustle I have is reading Advanced Reader Copies of books and writing reviews to publishers before they’re released! The Isle in The Silver Sea by Tasha Suri is a sunning tale about a lady knight and a witch who keep living out the same love tale over and over on an enchanted island. The catch? Their story always ends in betrayal and tragedy, and if they don’t let it play out as written, the island’s magic wanes.

I am 39% in, but this book has been swiftly curing my book slump.

The book will be published on October 21st, 2025, but you can pre-order it here via bookshop.org.

My Favorite Things This Week:

Ursa Major// Vitamin C Serum //smells amazing and doesn’t have the same tacky, sticky texture that most others have. I had given up on Vitamin C Serum until I tried this.

Ursa Major// Essential Face Wipes // From mid-flight to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, these wipes are a dream. They smell like the forest, and I love everything about the experience. I would say they’re more for a refresh or lazy late-night ritual vs. makeup removal.

Victoria Beckham Beauty // My go-to faerie makeup eye shadow // I haven’t bought mascara since I ran out two months ago, but I rarely leave the house (if I wear makeup) without a little bit of glitter. This formula is sans microplastics and is so ethereal and pretty.

Frank & Eileen // The dress I wore three times this week… no really. // Daydreaming about the black version and the sleeveless version. I wear a size L.

Left on Friday // I bought the bikini and now I can’t stop thinking about this one piece. // I had never felt good in a bathing suit before buying this one. It even came in a cute little bag to keep my suit separated from my beach bag.

I’m obsessed with this scarf, but sadly, they don’t ship to Canada.

These linen Serena & Lily pajamas are so comfortable and chic enough to walk the dog in. They’re currently on sale!

My favorite treats for self-bribery.

Leaving room for magic: Three Good Things

1. The island has been wild with flowers! Today, I spent a little time watching bees get sleepy from too much pollen.

2. Have been working on some exciting projects for Happy Stitching and other collaborations— stay tuned for later this fall!

3. I had a creative writing breakthrough this week! I have two neurodivergent conditions that make many tasks really difficult for me. Sometimes the awareness of these conditions, too, makes me feel blue. However, I’ve learned to try to be resourceful and use some of their quirks to my advantage. Although focus is challenging for me, I find that researching helps me feel inspired, even if the bits of inspiration have nothing to do with what I’m reading— this is where the magic happens. Sometimes my mind can feel like a Bing commercial, so learning that I need to feed my brain with things other than what I am trying to accomplish is a great way to think outside the box— literally!

BONUS: Some of our good friends let us have their CSA last week and my goodness, was it a treasure! Will definitely be signing up for next year.

Thank you for being here!

See you next week!

Each design featured on this site is either (1) the unique and original creation of Brooke Thorn McGowan and owned by Thorn Alexander LLC, or (2) is the unique and original creation of another artist with whom she has collaborated. Visitors to this site are hereby given notice that the copyright and all other intellectual property rights for all designs featured on this site remain the sole and exclusive property of their creator. No reproduction of any kind may be made of any of the designs without specific written permission from the copyright owner.