Easter Gnome Cross Stitch Patterns

In my never-ending quest to share holiday related patterns that I haven’t shared before, today I bring you a collection of Easter gnome cross stitch patterns. I don’t know why gnomes are so popular, but I will admit they are pretty cute, and they’re something a little different from all the bunnies and chicks and things we normally see this time of year.

Which is not to same that gnomes don’t like those Easter things. Here’s a gnome from New England ArtsnCraft with a springtime gnome holding a chick and surrounded by flowers and a couple of decorated eggs. Be aware that this one is a printed pattern that ships from Massachusetts; I don’t see a way to order a digital copy on their page. But it is super cute! This one is 91 by 80 stitches, of 5.1 by 4.4 inches/13 by 11 cm, when worked on 18 count fabric.

Or there’s this sweet gnome with a flower crown painting an Easter egg while a rabbit looks on. I love the kind of watercolor effect on this one, which is from Galart Design. It is 153 by 136 stitches and uses a whopping 72 colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to 11 by 9.8 inches or 28 by 25 cm. Sizes for other counts are also given if you want to make it smaller.

This Easter gnome from Favorite Gnome has bunny ears sticking out of his stocking cap. This one uses 20 colors and measures 91 by 115 stitches, which is 7 by 9 inches or 16.5 by 20.9 cm on 14 count fabric.

This set of six gnomes from 4StitchLV would be perfect to stitch up for the gnome lover in your life. The gnomes all have different looks but they all have Easter eggs as well, and you could probably mix and match the designs of the backgrounds and the eggs without too much trouble. These designs vary a little bit in size but they’re all around 5 inches/12.7 cm on 14 count fabric.

Want even more little options for your Easter gnome cross stitch designs? Try this set of 20 mini Easter gnomes from Teeny Weeny X Stitch. Each of these little cuties is less than 42 by 42 stitches, or smaller than 3.1 inches/7.8 cm on 14 count fabric. The whole set uses 22 colors.

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I have not done a lot of big cross stitch projects, but sometimes even with small projects it can be hard to decide exactly where to begin and how to work through the chart if you’re working with multiple colors. The general categories for the possible methods are known as cross country and parking.

Cross country means that you’re working one color at a time, moving around the chart (or the section of the chart you’re working on) until you’re done with that color. Parking means you’re working in a smaller section and doing all the colors in that area, “parking” the threads by leaving them attached to the canvas but out of the way while you finish each section.

Royal Rows is a specific way of parking named by Alison Royal, which is explored in detail on a post on Stitching Daily.

The idea is that you’re working one “tower” of stitches at a time (she uses a section of 10 stitches across by 20 down, but you can do whatever makes sense to you). You work all the stitches of a color at a time, starting at the top left and working your way down. When you’re done with a color you can park it where needed in the section below your current tower (known as the dungeon) or in the “east tower,” which is the section to the right.

There’s also a specific way of dealing with thread ends when you’re done with a color. This is a super simplified version (head to the blog post at Stitching Daily to get all the details) but the basic idea is that you’re working from left to right and top to bottom across the work, parking the threads in the next section when you’re done with them and systematically choosing which color to work with next.

The whole idea of parking is kind of overwhelming to me though I will admit that it makes a lot of sense. I guess I need to try it on a smallish big project and see how it goes. Do you use the parking method of cross stitch? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Stitching Daily]

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