A Quick Guide to Common Cross Stitch Symbols

When you first start out with cross stitch, you probably will work from charts that only include symbols that cover the whole square, meaning that the stitches you’re working are full cross stitches.

But as time goes on you might pick up some slightly more complicated patterns that include things like partial stitches, back stitching and French knots depicted on the charts.

Cross stitch patterns often assume that you know what they mean, and that you only need a key for the colors not what kind of stitch you’re making.

Crewel Ghoul has a really well illustrated post about common cross stitch symbols and what they mean. So if you ever see a symbol that’s just in the corner of a square, or a dot that’s on top of the lines instead of a square, or even lines drawn over other stitching, you’ll know what to do.

Check out the post over at Crewel Ghoul for all the details. It’s also worth checking out this post on how to stitch partial stitches, which includes a diagram of what the different kinds of stitches look like. (It doesn’t include a French knot but you probably already know what that looks like.)

Like a lot of techniques in crafting, understanding how to read cross stitch charts and what the symbols are trying to tell you actually makes sense once you understand the basics.

Backstitch looks like lines because that’s what the stitching looks like. Same with three-quarter stitches, because they fill half the box like the little triangle on the chart (they’re three quarter stitches because one line goes all the way across like a normal stitch and one goes from the corner to the center, so it’s like stitching three quarters of a whole cross stitch).

All this to say if you’ve encountered a chart with these strange looking symbols, don’t think it’s too hard for you! Just take it stitch by stitch and have fun. And know there are lots of people you can ask for help if you need it.

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

How to Cross Stitch Faster [Cross-Stitch]

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

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