It is a water soluble ink (washes out/dissolves with water). I use it mostly to mark things like the center of the fabric, stitches I missed or want to skip and the color/blackwork pattern that goes into the area, but most people use it to help with keeping track of a pattern/counting like SheWhoRoars mentioned. It's also used by people who do surface embroidery to transfer patterns to the fabric.mbiogirlumd wrote:Ok, so I'm noticing this in a lot of the WIPs on this forum, but what are all the little blue marks on everyone's fabric? Is it a common practice to mark your fabric in blocks like that? I've never stitched a pattern using marked fabric before, this is the first place I've ever seen that. But I guess it works?
Badgersensei marked her(?) pattern every 5 stitches, but lots of people draw in lines to grid it like a pattern (10x10). It just takes a lot more ink. My mom does this and I just order the pens on ebay for about $1 each from China/East Asia. Some people alternatively use thread to grid their fabric. Sometimes you can even find aida with grids already drawn or sewn in. It can save a lot of time to get this, but I'd double check it's correct before using.
My mom's current stitch using grid lines.
I was just wondering did everyone(not including the blue chicken which was really cool) just use the colors suggested in the pattern? 
