Are You Up for a Cross Stitch Challenge?

I for one don’t think we should try to do anything new in January. There’s enough going on, and it’s winter (at least where I live) and the way this timeline is going just getting through it is enough.

But it might be about time to start thinking about goals and challenges, at least when it comes to our crafts. There are lots of fun things you can do to learn new skills, finish old projects or just keep making things.

Sirious Stitches has a post all about gamifying your stitching, whether through a challenge devised by someone else or by making your own challenge for yourself.

There are lots of potential benefits such as using what you have and finishing projects you wanted to make at some point in the past.

The post includes some ideas for challenging yourself to stitch more, such as 100 days of stitching or planning to do 24 hours of stitching over the course of a long weekend, as well as ideas for starting new projects, making a tracker project, skill challenges and more.

If you’re looking for some challenges with a bit more structure, Stitching the Night Away has compiled a list of cross stitch challenges and stitchalongs that you can jump into whenever you are ready. You’ll find both free and paid stitchalongs here, and a wide range of topics are included.

For example, there’s a Doctor Who themed project, Christmas projects, floral designs and more. Joining in one one of these projects can be even more fun because typically there’s a community aspect to it, which is nice if you don’t know other people who cross stitch.

Do you have any particular goals or are you taking part in any cross stitch challenges (official or your own) this year? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

Hanukkah is a great reason to pull out your cross stitch fabric and thread and stitch up some fun seasonal cross stitch patterns.

If you have trouble spelling Hanukkah (I know I do!) you’ll want to stitch up the How Do You Spell… project from SKB Cross Stitch Design. This one includes a bunch of different ways to spell the holiday, along with some symbols like a dreidel and menorah. (Technically I think all the ways to spell it are “correct.”) The pattern includes full, fractional and bask titches, and measures 8.5 by 7 inches, or 21.6 by 17.8 cm. It has the date for 2004/5785 but you can easily change the year or leave that part off.

Another project with some fun word play is the Words to Live By chart from Sam Brie Stitches. This one includes Hanukkah related symbols and word presented crossword puzzle style, which is fun to stitch and to display. The design uses 10 colors and measures 74 by 103 stitches. It’s shown worked on 18 count fabric.

I may have shared these before, but the Hanukkah patterns from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery are so cute they’re definitely worth sharing again. Happy Hanukkah features a menorah, dreidels, gelt, stars and candles, and it fits in a 6-inch hoop. At 75 by 75 stitches, it comes out to 5.4 inches/13.4 cm on 14 count Aida or 28 count linen. They also have this cute little dreidel stamp cross stitch pattern, which is 39 by 49 stitches, or 2.8 by 3.5 inches (about 7 by 9 cm) on 14 count Aida or 28 count linen.

Works By ABC has a lot of great patterns for Hanukkah, but here are just a couple to get you started. The Rules for Dreidel design is fun for kids and adults and shows the different sides of the dreidel and what it means when you land on them. The stitch count is 62 by 94 and its shown worked on 32 count linen. It calls for three colors. I also like this menorah one, which measures 44 by 49 stitches and uses two colors along with coordinating seed beads. On 32 count linen as shown (equivalent to 16 count Aida) it measures 2.75 by 3.1 inches, or almost 7 by 7.8 cm.

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