Celtic Inspired Cross Stitch Patterns

If you want a cross stitch pattern to honor your Irish heritage, or something to decorate for St. Patrick’s Day that isn’t all shamrocks and leprechauns (though those things are totally fine, too!) check out this little collection of Celtic inspired cross stitch patterns.

This Celtic blessing cross stitch pattern does have shamrocks, but it reminds my of my Irish grandma so I’m allowing it. The design is by Down Under Patterns and uses 25 count linen fabric. It measures 91 by 98 stitches and isn’t all that difficult but it does use several colors and a lot of backstitch for the words.

Celtic style crosses are a popular cross stitch motif, and this small one from Celtic Craft Shop US is also decorated with little shamrocks. Designed by David Jackson of Claddagh Cross Stitch, it measures 39 by 39 stitches, so it’s a pretty quick project you can frame, make into a card or even turn into a little pillow or pin cushion.

A larger version comes from Love from Rhi, which uses three colors and comes out to 6.93 inches by 11 inches/17.6 by 27.9 centimeters) on 14 count fabric.

Craft by Kai has a Celtic knot cross stitch pattern that would be pretty as is or added to the border of another project. The full design is 110 by 110 stitches (about 20 centimeters/8 inches) but you could pull out just the center part of the design to make a border, or use as a bookmark pattern. It uses seven colors.

Another popular motif is the tree of life. This collection of five Celtic tree cross stitch patterns is pretty simple but effective. Each uses one to three colors and they are designed by Cross Stitch with Art.

If you want to amp up the drama and skill level on your Celtic cross stitch patterns, these designs from Pandora Xstitch are for you. These stunning designs have such depth and detail they are decidedly for experienced stitchers, but what a fun challenge they would be. The set of patterns is linked but you can also buy individual patterns if you don’t want the whole set.

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.

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