A gauge for stitches

This design class challenge has been a doozy for me. I’m feeling a bit like a dunce. I’ve got the kernel of an idea, I’ve made some sketches.

 But, I’m not making my way down a path to a pattern.

In an attempt to set it aside to see if something percolates up to the top of my brain, I made a stitch gauge in size 20 thread to help in future designs. I can see this will be quite useful.