Cross stitch

I think the reason is that they use several different shades of the same colour close together. For example, the top right square of that sample of the pattern has 7 shades of green, 4 shades of brown and 1 black in those 900 stitches. And it's on 18 holes to the inch fabric while a lot of cross stitch is 14 holes per inch, and the smaller the stiches the more detailed it looks.

It is the most complicated pattern I've ever done in 30+ years :)
 
I have just finished the third row of the cross stitch, one more row left to go.


First three rows.JPG
 
Thank you :)


It all started back in the 1980s when my mother-in-law gave me a small 4 inch square half cross stich kit of an apple and it's continued since then. I much prefer working in full cross stich on aida fabric or linen rather than wool on canvas, and 18 holes to the inch as that allows more detail. This one I'm three quarters the way through is on 18 count aida fabric. With designs which leave areas unstitched I use 36 count linen working over two threads per stitch (so it's the same size stitches as 18 count aida).
 
I have just finished the third row of the cross stitch, one more row left to go.


View attachment 331550

That's stunning! I'm a cross stitcher too, so I know how much work and time went into this, with the variety of colours and threads! Do you use the parking method, by chance? I haven't had time or inclination to stitch since dad passed, and I miss it. I know I'll pick it back up again when I can. I still have patterns, fabric, floss etc, and two huge tubs of cross stitching stuff, equipment, finished stitches that I completed but didn't do anything with, etc! :)
Thank you :)


It all started back in the 1980s when my mother-in-law gave me a small 4 inch square half cross stich kit of an apple and it's continued since then. I much prefer working in full cross stich on aida fabric or linen rather than wool on canvas, and 18 holes to the inch as that allows more detail. This one I'm three quarters the way through is on 18 count aida fabric. With designs which leave areas unstitched I use 36 count linen working over two threads per stitch (so it's the same size stitches as 18 count aida).

So similar to my story! I liked art and crafts a lot as a kid in the late 80s and 90s, so got some little cross stitch kits for kids for Christmas or a birthday, can't remember, but I loved it, and really got into it for a while. Then my mum bought me a huge stitch kit of a jungle scene after a visit to the zoo, because I loved the picture so much. But it was way too advanced for me then. I attempted it, starting with one tiny corner and not leaving a margin, and just guessing at the colours needed, lol. Eventually I got all the threads mixed up, packed it away and moved on to other art stuff. Mainly pencil sketches, really detailed still life stuff, some watercolouring and acrylics etc. Always liked trying new art forms and media! But I didn't cross stitch again for years.

But around 2018/2019 when I moved to a bigger place, I picked up some boxes from my parents house and found that huge old cross stitch mum had bought me all those years ago, and determined to complete it! It's a mess, but it felt great to finally complete it, and find the stitching community to learn all the tips! It's just a peaceful thing to do of an evening.
 
Do you use the parking method, by chance?
I had to google that term. No I don't use it. If I tried the parking method I'd end up with the threads so tangled I'd never get them undone :blush: With this pattern being in 16 sheets I have to work 1 sheet at a time, though it does get complicated juggling 4 sheets at the intersections. You can see from the photo that where a colour continues into the next sheet I just finish the thread on the needle working from the next sheet; or where there are just a couple of stitches of a colour at the edge of a sheet and that colour continues into the next pattern sheet I leave those stitches till I'm sewing the next sheet. The patterns have all sorts of scribbling round the edges.


I'll have to take some photos of the ones I've already done, including one free style embroidery picture. That was a challenge as I had to learn a few new stitches that we didn't do at primary school back in the early 1960s (when girls had to do girl subjects and boys did boy subjects :rolleyes: )
 
I had to google that term. No I don't use it. If I tried the parking method I'd end up with the threads so tangled I'd never get them undone :blush: With this pattern being in 16 sheets I have to work 1 sheet at a time, though it does get complicated juggling 4 sheets at the intersections. You can see from the photo that where a colour continues into the next sheet I just finish the thread on the needle working from the next sheet; or where there are just a couple of stitches of a colour at the edge of a sheet and that colour continues into the next pattern sheet I leave those stitches till I'm sewing the next sheet. The patterns have all sorts of scribbling round the edges.


I'll have to take some photos of the ones I've already done, including one free style embroidery picture. That was a challenge as I had to learn a few new stitches that we didn't do at primary school back in the early 1960s (when girls had to do girl subjects and boys did boy subjects :rolleyes: )

I need to grab some photos too, all my previous photos are on my dead laptop... I'm terrible about backing things up!

I can't use the parking method either, I tend to just do what I was told is called "cross country", where I just start somewhere in the middle and do the stitches in that area in that colour. I grid my fabric into ten by ten blocks usually though. I have dyscalculia, and tend to accidentally switch numbers in my head at times, so having a fabric pen grid on the aida that washes out when I'm finished helps me catch any mistakes before I've gone too far and have to unpick things!

I like using black aida sometimes though, and that means gridding using a thin red reel, like fishing line, that you can make ten by ten grids with. I prefer using 18 or 16 count, but I'm also way overdue for an eye test and new glasses, so have been sticking to smaller, 14 count basic fabric and fairly easy to midsize projects.

Haven't done embroidery yet, but have a kit for it in my supply tub! :lol: It's such a beautiful thread art, I just haven't got around to learning all the different stitches and trying it out yet. Your current WIP is gorgeous! That's one to frame and hang on your wall, for sure.
 
I usually start in the middle and work outwards but with this one having 16 pattern sheets that wasn't really an option so I've been working in rows. The most difficult thing has been physically handling the frame. It's big. The finished picture is 66 x 45 cm (26.1 x 17.8 inches) and from tip to tip the rollers are 93 cm/36.5 inches. I managed to find a make of frame that just fit the fabric. Most of the cross stitch I've done has been portrait layout while this is landscape.


I've had to get a second pair of reading glasses for really close work. I have a pair of 'office' glasses as my main pair - the top half is for using the laptop, the lower half for reading a book - but I can't see to even thread the needle with the lower half.
 

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