Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Book Review: Cross Stitch Cabinet of Curiosities

by

If you’re a fan of the strange and unusual, little trinkets gathered from here and there, natural wonders and found objects, you’ll enjoy the projects in Grace Isobel’s Cross Stitch Cabinet of Curiosities: 500 Magical Motifs and Peculiar Patterns.

This book covers everything from mushrooms and bones to ghosts, crafting tools, the phases of the moon, strange bottles and old keys, just to name a few. The designs are divided into topics such as:

  • anatomy and botany
  • animals and insects
  • myth and magic
  • trinkets and treasures
  • apothecary and academia
  • alphabets and numerals

Each chapter includes a bunch of charts for various designs on the theme. Generally several patterns are shown on the same page, with colors listed for the whole page at the bottom. In the PDF version I reviewed, the grid lines were hard to see so you might want a photocopy of the design you’re working so you can mark up the design if you need to. 

Only a few of the designs in each chapter are shown stitched as a finished project, so it can be hard to visualize what things will look like stitched up or how large the designs are (most of them are relatively small, though there are some bigger designs that have a whole page chart, like a shelf full of beetles and butterflies). In some cases I wasn’t totally sure what the image was depicting, and nothing is labeled. 

I found flipping through the book a little overwhelming because where do you even begin with 500 patterns? There are interesting patterns here and I could definitely see making some of the little designs as pendants or to put in tiny frames for my daughter’s curio shelf. 

There are also six alphabets included if you want to make your own signs or add your own words to a design. 

Instructions at the back cover the basics of cross stitch, and plenty of these designs would be fine for beginners because they are so small. So if you’ve got a witchy friend who wants to get into cross stitch, this is just the book for them. 

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 500 patterns. Publishes 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?

Cross Stitch Sheep Projects

As a knitter, I love a good sheep motif, so let’s take a look at some cute sheep cross stitch patterns. 

If you want to stitch a little sheep, this mini square from Good Dog Needleworks is a nice choice. It uses just three colors and measures 32 by 32 stitches. That’s 2.2 inches or about 5.5 cm square if you stitch it on 14 count fabric. 

I also love these two little sheep, which you can stitch together or in individual hoops and shown. The designs are form Threadbound Art and use six colors. They are slightly different in size, with one being 21 by 17 stitches and the other 21 by 20. They fit in four inch frames if you work them on 14 count fabric. 

You can stitch a sweet sheep bookmark with this design from Kits by SA Stitch. This is not for the person who doesn’t like back stitch, because there’s a lot of that here, but it is really cute. It measures 30 by 91 stitches and uses 10 colors. That will make your bookmark about 2.4 by 6.5 inches, or 6 by 16.5 cm on 14 count fabric. 

Stitch a pretty scene of sheep in a meadow with this design from Motok Nytok. It uses 21 colors and the design is 99 by 73 stitches. On 14 count fabric that makes it about 7.07 by 5.21 inches, or 17.96 by 13.24 cm. 

This yarn full of cross stitch sheep has a bit of a knitting twist because the sheep all look like they have sweaters on. The design is from Soda Stitch Design and it measures 179 by 216 stitches. The full design uses 27 colors. On 14 count fabric it will work out to 12.78 by 15.42 inches, or 32.48 by 39.19 cm. 

Another great one with a knitting theme is this one where the wool is coming off the sheep and straight onto the needles. This one is from Happy Cross Stitchers and uses 12 colors. The pattern is 137 by 137 stitches, which comes out to 9.7 inches or 24.86 cm square on 14 count fabric. This would be a fun one to stitch for the knitter in your life (even if that is you). 

Or you can stitch the field of sheep of a knitter’s dreams with the Happy Sheep chart from Charts and Stuff. These per-colored sheep can be stitched as shown or worked in any colors you like. The eyes are French knots but you can just stitch them in white if you’d rather.