Hanukkah Cross Stitch Patterns

Every year I share Hanukkah cross stitch patterns, but it seems especially important this year to take a moment to reflect on the season of light and hope that Hanukkah is.

Stitch People has a cute Hanukkah freebie you can get when signing up for emails. It features a Star of David, menorah and dreidel.

The Hanukkah minis from Craftigurumi on Etsy were stitched on plastic canvas, making them perfect to turn into pins or magnets. But you could also stitch them on regular Aida cloth or even on cloth napkins or other linen for the holiday table. Patterns include a dreidel, menorah, Star of David, I’m guessing a piece of gelt, a jelly doughnut and a torah scroll.

More mini designs can be found on this sampler style word art cross stitch pattern from Etsy seller Little Apple Stitchery. The full piece is 133 by 133 stitches, or 9.5 inches square on 14 count cloth. It uses 11 colors.

Or there’s this Hanukkah symbols sampler from Cross Stitch Wow on Etsy, which has gifts and a dove and some other symbols we haven’t seen in other projects. It uses five colors and comes out at 5 inches square on 14 count fabric, with a stitch count of 70 by 70.

I love this Hanukkah word art pattern from Oh My Stitches Shop on Etsy. It looks really modern and pretty, especially on the dark fabric, but you could stitch the words in a different color and use a lighter background fabric color if you wanted. As is it uses six colors and measures 164 by 118 stitches, or 11.4 by 8.26 inches on 14 count fabric.

And finally I could not resist sharing this fun dreidel-spinning gnome from Demented Stitches on Etsy. This one is 67 by 69 stitches, or just a little less than 5 inches square when stitched up. I love it in traditional Hanukkah colors but you can make yours in whatever colors you like.

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How and Why to Cross Stitch on Plastic Canvas

If you like repeating cross stitch designs, borders you can use on other projects or as bookmarks, florals and Japanese-inspired designs, you’ll want to check out 200 Japanese Cross Stitch Designs by Saeko Endo. This collection of 200 cross stitch charts is low on instruction but big on inspiration for those who are comfortable taking a chart and running with it.

The book includes a brief introduction to the needed supplies and basics of stitching, but mostly is just photographs of finished designs and the charts that go with them. The charts vary widely in size and there can be anywhere from one to six charts printed on a single page.

Many of the designs are repeating patterns, but the chart shows a larger version so you can see how the repeats go together. Each chart has marked what portion is repeating and how many stitches and rows it includes. Other than that the charts are not numbered, but there are darker lines every five rows to help you count.

The patterns all range from one to three colors, and some include half cross stitches or back stitching, but most are full stitches.

The book is arranged into categories of motifs: geometric patterns, retro patterns, traditional Japanese patterns, floral and fauna and borders and pictorial motifs.

My favorites are the Japanese designs, many of which are recognizable from woodcuts, kimono designs and traditional shashiko embroidery. You’ll find cherry blossoms, suns, knots, and simple line designs that would be lots of fun to stitch.

There are a few pages devoted to different ways to modify charts such as changing colors, changing the way to design is repeated, flipping and rotating designs.

Other than that you’re on your own for how you actually want to use these designs. Of course they can just be stitched and framed but it might have been nice to see some of the projects stitched and staged in a way you might use them in everyday life (repeating motifs as coasters, or a bigger design turned into a pillow, for example).

Sometimes it helps to see designs used in different ways to get you thinking about how you might use them yourself. If you don’t need that creative push, this is a fine book full of patterns you’ll have fun playing with in different ways.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 200 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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