The Mysterious Mary Atwood

I just finished the two bands I had started right before I went to Jeannine's--about seven weeks ago.  What happens to the time?

These bands have something I've never seen in a 17th century repro--there are several sections where you stitch over an existing stitch with another color.  This picture may show it (or again, may not--look closely).

See the cream thread on the stems with the green peeking out from under it?

I wonder why Mary stitched this way.  Was she trying to keep her double running pattern true and just stitched what she needed so she could?  Did she decide she wanted the cream in those spots rather than the green and was too lazy or time-deprived to take it out?  Or was she trying to add another color to her sampler?

This sampler, like Loara Standish and Mary Hollingworth, has a very limited color palette, basically two greens, the cream, a blue and very small amounts of two shades of brown.  Maybe she thought by stitching one color on top of another, it would give her more variety.

Another mystery that may never be solved . . .