A Great Cross Stitch Holiday Gift Guide

I am not the most experienced at cross stitch so I’m not always aware of the best tools and supplies that a cross stitch enthusiast might want. So now that we’re in the season of gift lists, you probably don’t want to take it from me when it comes to the best products to get for a cross stitcher in your life or to add to your wish list.

(The entirety of my cross stitch supplies other than a roll of fabric fits in a zippered bag that a set of king-sized sheets came in, so I am definitely the wrong person to ask.)

But A Stitch of Blissfulness is a good person to ask, and they’ve compiled a list of their favorite cross stitching supplies that would be a great place to start if you want to get a good gift for a cross-stitcher or you want to get some good gifts for yourself.

The stuff on their list makes a lot of sense, but also there are some things I would never think to ask for like a good light or a cookbook stand to hold your pattern.

One thing on this list I definitely want to try is the first thing on the list: a Q Snap embroidery frame system. These PVC pipes snap together to form a frame that holds your project firmly in place while you stitch. This isn’t a solution if you want to frame your project in a hoop, but assuming you might want to finish your project in a different way this frame is a great option.

There’s lots more listed in the blog post, so head over to A Stitch of Blissfulness to see all the recommendations. If you’ve asked for or received or bought for someone else a great cross-stitch inspired gift, I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: A Stitch of Blissfulness]

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35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

I have not done a lot of big cross stitch projects, but sometimes even with small projects it can be hard to decide exactly where to begin and how to work through the chart if you’re working with multiple colors. The general categories for the possible methods are known as cross country and parking.

Cross country means that you’re working one color at a time, moving around the chart (or the section of the chart you’re working on) until you’re done with that color. Parking means you’re working in a smaller section and doing all the colors in that area, “parking” the threads by leaving them attached to the canvas but out of the way while you finish each section.

Royal Rows is a specific way of parking named by Alison Royal, which is explored in detail on a post on Stitching Daily.

The idea is that you’re working one “tower” of stitches at a time (she uses a section of 10 stitches across by 20 down, but you can do whatever makes sense to you). You work all the stitches of a color at a time, starting at the top left and working your way down. When you’re done with a color you can park it where needed in the section below your current tower (known as the dungeon) or in the “east tower,” which is the section to the right.

There’s also a specific way of dealing with thread ends when you’re done with a color. This is a super simplified version (head to the blog post at Stitching Daily to get all the details) but the basic idea is that you’re working from left to right and top to bottom across the work, parking the threads in the next section when you’re done with them and systematically choosing which color to work with next.

The whole idea of parking is kind of overwhelming to me though I will admit that it makes a lot of sense. I guess I need to try it on a smallish big project and see how it goes. Do you use the parking method of cross stitch? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Stitching Daily]

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