A Long Awaited Cross Stitch Update

During the pandemic, I returned to an old hobby – cross stitching. I’m still not entirely sure why I originally set the practice aside, nor why I suddenly decided to pick it up again. I guess the need to fill time causes us to dredge up even the dustiest of our old hobbies.

After the pandemic ended and the world went back to regular activity, I kept cross stitching. I find it extremely relaxing. It’s my break during lunches. And at the end of a long, grueling day it’s my reward for all my hard work.

Most of my projects continue to be gifts for friends. (And those are slowly drifting through the mail to their final destinations.) But I have also taken the time to work on (and plan) a few patterns for myself as well. I can’t cover every wall in the house with cross stitch – my husband would have something to say about that. Sending projects to friends solves that problem nicely. Though, of course, I do want to keep some of my hard work for myself.

As time has gone on and I’ve grown more confident in my skills, I have also branched away from pattern kits toward custom projects. (More on that in a moment.) So I’ve got some truly exciting projects coming down the pipeline.

I’ve also tried to post all of my progress pictures on both Pinterest and Twitter to make them a little easier to find due to login barriers and whatnot. (Sadly, I don’t have room to put all of them on my website, or I most certainly would.)

Belle and the Majestic Horse

My first new cross stitch project featured Belle and the Beast dancing with the ballroom chandelier in the background. I sadly don’t have a lot to say about it because it was basically finished during my last update. But I can report that I have since shipped it to its forever owner, Flutterdye, and received confirmation of its delivery!

You can still see the pictures on Twitter and Pinterest.

When last I posted an update, I was working on the back stitch of the majestic ‘carousel’ horse for my friend Itswuf. I found this part of the project particularly challenging, especially while I was working on the hair. Because there were a lot of different colors spread across a wide space, which made it easy to make mistakes.

The same was true of the feather portion of the back stitch because a lot of it radiated from the same area. So it was often hard to keep track of where each ‘line’ was supposed to start or stop. Every project is bound to have at least a handful of mistakes that no one but the creator is ever going to notice. But since this was a gift, I tried to minimize those as much as possible.

For all that horse was large and somewhat complicated, I’m really pleased with how it turned out. When you take a step back and look at it, it truly does look like a painting. And I’m particularly fond of the makeup lines on the head. They really complete the overall feel of the image!

I’m also pleased to report that the horse has been shipped to Wuf and he has received it. I can’t wait to see what he ends up doing with it! Find the full update progress on Twitter and Pinterest.

The Art of Tea

The other project I was working on during my last update is called “The Art of Tea” and is for my good friend Vinylstencil. Compared to the horse, this was a fairly simple pattern, which made it a lot of fun.

This pattern can essentially be broken down into 3 parts: the base cross stitch for the mugs, the background aging pattern, and the detail back stitching. When last I posted, I’d finished the base stitching for the mugs. That was the easy and fun part!

Next came the ‘aging’ pattern in the background. That took a bit more time since it covers the entirety of the canvas. You’d think you could go into auto-pilot for this portion of the project because it just repeats. But there were actually some mistakes in the printed pattern which I meticulously corrected.

Again, this probably isn’t important to anyone other than me. But I took great pride in making sure the pattern matched.

The last step was back stitching. This added a lot of detail to the mugs, which really made them pop. My only complaint about this pattern is that it possessed an inordinate number of French knots. (I find French knots extremely fiddly, and I can never get them to look as uniform as I prefer.)

But overall, I’m pleased with the finished product. It makes a cute little poster!

I haven’t yet had a chance to mail this project to its final home. At the end of each project, I make a pair of friendship bracelets with the leftover thread. (This one has an extra for Vinyl’s husband Cauliflumps.) I also write a nice note on nice stationary. So mailing this is my first project for when we get home in January!

Find full images on Twitter and Pinterest.

Epic Dragon

After 3 gift projects, it seemed time to do something for myself. My in-laws generously gifted me with an amazing dragon cross stitch pattern. (They are aware of my deep and abiding love for dragons.)

This pattern is by far the most complicated I’ve ever attempted. Even more so than the horse! Because it not only includes metallic threads but also beads. I’ve never done more than one or two beads on a cross stitch, so I expect this to be an interesting experience. On top of that, this pattern is huge!

I tend to break my projects in to pieces so I can take breaks. As with all things, this helps me avoid burnout. (I work on another cross stitch pattern for awhile before switching back.) In this case, I did the dragon’s body during my first session. Then I did the wings and moon. Finally, I did the back stitching.

The most challenging part of this project is that the guide is small and printed only in black and white. So there have been a few sections where I’ve had to guess if I’m using the right color. Especially on the face and around the claws. This was doubly difficult for the back stitching in those areas. One night on stream I had to rip out the stitching so many times my thread broke. (I almost cried friends.)

But this dragon looks truly stunning with all its details applied. I can’t really put to words how beautiful the gold scales and the silver on the wings looks. And it’s hard to capture on camera, despite my best efforts.

All that remains for this project is the beadwork. I’m hoping to tackle that when we return from our Christmas trip!

Find full images on Twitter and Pinterest.

Four Owls Sitting on a Tree

After the dragon, it was time to get back to gift projects! One of the kindest, most thoughtful and generous members of our community is the lovely Bardowl. During every charity drive, she’s one of our highest donators. Not only that, she is a truly wonderful friend.

As you can probably guess, she’s fond of owls. I found this group of 4 owl patterns on sale and knew I had to make them for her. Each features an owl wearing different accessories. (Pirate owl is the favorite.) They also each correspond with a season.

I have been working on the owls during the breaks between the dragon. And they’re a nice change because each is fairly small and simple, so they come together quickly.

The only issue I have with these patterns is that some of the browns are so close in shade, you can’t initially tell the difference between them. For the first owl, I did four different browns and they all looked the same until I got the eye color in there. I was pretty worried.

But I have learned over time to trust that the pattern will look completely different when it’s done compared to while it’s in progress. Belle looked really washed out until I got the outlines in. And each of these cute little owls looks kind of like a pixel painting when the base stitching is done.

There are a few details that need to be added to each owl, but I’ve decided to do all of the back stitching at the end since there’s so little of it. Owls 1 – 3 (Summer Pirate, Winter Scarf and Spring Necklace) are complete aside from back stitching. Owl 4, Fall Wreath is coming with us on vacation.

Find full images on Twitter and Pinterest.

Future Patterns

I have really hit the gas on cross stitch projects after my last update. The flood gates are open, and I don’t see them closing any time soon.

At some point, it occurred to me that I’m not limited to just cross stitch kits. I have all of the stuff I need to do the work, I just need viable patterns. So I took my searches onto Etsy, and I have discovered a well-spring of patterns I want to make for my friends.

Early in 2024, I purchased a pack of 150 different colors and a group of new organizers for the threads. This gives me a wide selection of colors to use for my new patterns. I’m not going to have every color a pattern calls for, but I can at least do closest match. I also grabbed a pack of different colored aida canvases so that I have a selection of options for bases.

After I finish the dragon and owls, my next project is a space t-rex for our good friend Flannelsaurus. I also found a cute, simple Winnie the Pooh pattern I want to try for him.

After that, the plan is a glizzy man for the lovely Jchilly, as well as a small pattern featuring Gengar, his favorite pokemon!

I haven’t purchased the rest of the patterns on my list yet. (I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself here!) But I would like to do a cosmic tea octopus for myself. (If I can manage to find the pattern – so far I only have pictures.) Then I have plans for a musical heart and a cute little pilot for our good friend Karly!

Where will I go from there? Well, someday I’d like to try fully custom patterns! Stay tuned!