Review: Cross-Stitch to Calm

Most needlecrafts are touted for their calming and meditative properties, but I think cross stitch might be even more relaxing than other crafts in a way because it is so slow. You have to have patience for a pattern to materialize stitch by stitch, and nothing makes you more in the moment than making a picture one movement at a time.

Leah Lintz took this idea to the next level with her book Cross-Stitch to Calm: Stitch and De-stress with 40 Simple Patterns.

She calls her patterns bold, cheerful and graphic, and they’re definitely not frilly or girly like traditional cross-stitch patterns. They often include colorwork, like a striped elephant or a checkered crab, that makes them a little more interesting to knit and gives them a fun look. She also skips columns or rows of stitching regularly to make stripes without having to use a second color.

The patterns are divided into categories such as creatures, nature, symbols and words. There are all sorts of interesting patterns here that will suit a lot of tastes, from beach motifs to animal heads, stylistic flowers and fruits to hearts, guitars and words like eat, family and home.

Projects are shown with large charts and a color-stitched sample, though any colors can be changed to suit the thread you have at home or the colors in your decor.

There are a lot of cute things here I’d love to stitch to decorate around the house or use on cards or in other ways. These designs seem like they would be interesting and entertaining without being too much of a challenge, the perfect thing for TV stitching or when you just need to wind down.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 40 patterns. Published February 2016 by Interweave/F+W, suggested retail $16.99

Next Pattern:

Cross-Stich For Stress Relief - Unwinding And…

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.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?