Cross Stitch Creatures from the Sea

Last fall I came across this cross stitch pattern for a sea turtle and I talked myself out of sharing it right away because tropical animals don’t feel like a “fall” thing, but now that it’s summer again, let’s take a look at some cross stitch patterns for creatures that live in or around the sea.

This sea turtle design from Witch Wolf Web Creations is literally just a chart with no grid to help you count stitches or suggested colors, but I would print it out and add a grid to make it easier to stitch. You can work it in many colors as shown, or there’s also a black and white version so you could just do it in a single color.

Stitch up some fish or a seahorse with this bundle of four tropical fish cross stitch patterns from LaSelva Design. It includes a clownfish, seahorse, moorish idol and blue tang, all of which vary in size and colors used, but they’re all really cute.

Or you can stitch a tank’s worth of tropical fish with this project from SamXstitch. There are 22 fish in all on this project, which measures 153 by 153 stitches. On 14 count fabric that’s 10.93 inches or 27.75 cm. It uses 15 colors.

I also love the jewel-toned fishies on this project from Velvet Pony Design. This one has seven fish and a seahorse and measures 113 by 140 stitches. That’s just over 8 by 10 inches or 20.5 by 25.4 cm on 14 count fabric, though you can make it smaller with a higher fabric count. It calls for 24 colors.

This vintage design from Past Pattern Palooza Co has a whole school of little fish. The design is 120 by 260 stitches and uses 30 colors. It measures 8.57 by 18.57 inches (21.7 by 47.2 cm) on 14 count fabric. The pattern notes say there are 69 designs in total, an individual fish range from 1.5 to 3 inches, or 4.5 to 8 cm.

You can stitch up a whole tropical world complete with coral using this design from Easy Stitching Outlet (though I don’t think this one is particularly easy). At 219 by 95 stitches, on 14 count fabric it will come out to 15.6 by 6.8 inches, or 39.73 by 17.24 cm.

I have never been one who can predict trends, and even when I hear about trends for crafting I don’t always believe them. When I heard ducks and geese were going to be big this year I didn’t totally believe it, but here were are, with duck and goose cross stitch patterns everywhere, not to mention porch geese having a resurgence and these birds showing up in other crafts as well.

So when a wizard goose cross stitch pattern caught my eye, I knew I needed to share it.

It’s not only a wizard goose, but a wizard goose riding a bicycle, announcing their mission to go cause a kerfuffle.

How could I not share that?

The design is from Cross Stitch With Art, and it’s actually not the only one this character features in, but we’ll get to that. This particular design uses six colors and measures 76 by 103 stitches. That’s about 5.5 by 7.5 inches, or 14 by 19 cm, when you stitch it on 14 count fabric. The pattern is great for beginner to intermediate stitchers, as it uses pretty simple shapes and not a lot of colors.

It might also be fun to do the sparkles in a metallic thread, but it’s cute just as it is, too.

If you’re not up for raising a kerfuffle, maybe you’d like another one of this character’s designs. There’s another one on the bike (riding the other direction, so you can make the pair and hang them together) in which the goose is cultivating whimsy. Other designs show the goose holding a candle. One of them is also about whimsy, while another advises to “hang in there it gets worse.”

If you like your geese with a side of magic, snark and whimsy, these patterns are for you. Check them out at Cross Stitch with Art on Etsy.

[Photo: Cross Stitch With Art]

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