Designer Spotlight: The World in Stitches

The thing that drew me to The World in Stitches’ Etsy shop was all the bright and cheerful color. The shop, which is based in the UK, has a header (as of this writing anyway) that shows four different colorful geometric patterns in rainbow colors, which definitely got my attention.

One of them is the Spectrum Mandala pattern shown above, because you might as well see what I am talking about. If I’m counting right it uses 10 colors and it is all whole stitches, but it might not be the best for completely novice stitchers. The design is 165 by 165 stitches, which works out to 10.3 by 10.3 inches, or 26.2 by 26.2 cm, on the recommended 16-count fabric.

Head to the colour and geometrics section of the shop if you want to see more patterns like this. You’ll find colorful geometric hearts, mandalas, hot air balloons, lanterns and more.

One thing to note about this shop is that they sell digital patterns as well as kits, so just be aware of what you’re ordering, especially if you don’t happen to live in the UK.

If you are willing to ship, though, they do have a cute collection of beginner’s kits including a Santa, penguin, a few hearts and other designs.

There are quite a few Christmas and Halloween themed designs if those are things you are into.

On the whole these designs are colorful and cheerful, often using bright rainbow colors or harmonious pastels. It’s hard to look at them and not smile, which I think will be the reaction when you stitch them as well. Some of them are smaller and relatively easy for new stitchers, while others include a lot of detail and colors that are better for folks further along on their cross stitch journey.

Either way, check out all their offerings at The World in Stitches.

[Photo: The World in Stitches]

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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