Cross-Stitch

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Just CrossStitch Halloween 2020

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Scary ghouls, silly ghosts and everything in-between—grab your black and orange floss, because it’s time for Halloween! This special Halloween issue from Just CrossStitch includes 50+ patterns that are sure to get you in the spooky spirit. Find frame-worthy pieces, decorative pillows, handy bookmarks and creative decor, plus 30 crowd-favorite Halloween ornaments.

  • Don’t be scared! Stitch a spooky scene of costumed children summoning their courage to walk the jack-o’-lantern–lined trail to the dark house on the hill. Will their moonlit trek betwixt crooked trees be rewarded with tricks or treats?
  • Sweet inspiration! This Halloween Lollipop Spool is a twist on the classic treat by hanging a circular scene on a wooden dowel held in place by a spool. Once finished, a wicked witch flies on her broomstick over a row of trick or treaters.
  • An autumn ornament, with a hint of Halloween! The Floral Spiderweb features a delicate spider surrounded by bright fall flowers with a subtle webbed detail.

Plus, you won’t want to miss featured patterns from some of our favorite designers along with new creations from upcoming cross-stitch artists! Download (or subscribe!) today!

Looking for more Fall-themed Cross-stitch patterns and charts? Check these out on Etsy.

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Have you read?

Do You Park Your Cross Stitch Thread? Try The Royal Roads Method

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]