I was playing a bit more with chicken scratch.  Here’s a couple of ideas.  First, I was trying an alternate lacing – a little messy, but I can see how this would get interesting:

Next, I tried changing the dimensions – instead of a 4 x 4 cross stitch, I elongated it.

I can see how this would lend itself to more variations.  However, it does raise a question – how far can this be pushed before it is no longer “chicken scratch”?  For instance, since this is not on checked fabric (which most of the references mention as a basis), does that “disqualify” this?

As an aside – if I do “whitework” in another color, is it still whitework, or does it loose some basic characteristic?

Anyway, I also did a bit of searching regarding the origin of the name.  I couldn’t find any information on that, but was intrigued by the number of other names I found for this type of work:   snowflaking, Australian lace stitch, gingham lace stitch, depression lace stitch, Amish embroidery, cross-stitch on gingham, gingham tracks, and snowflake embroidery.