• Home
  • Suggest A Craft
  • DIY Newsletter

Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

  • About CraftGossip
  • Our Network
    • Bath & Body Crafts
    • Candle Making Ideas
    • Crochet Ideas
    • Cross Stitch
    • Edible Crafts
    • Felting Patterns
    • Glass Art
    • Home & Garden Ideas
    • Indie Crafts
    • Jewelry Making
    • Kids Crafts
    • Knitting Patterns
    • Lesson Plans
    • Needlework
    • Party Ideas
    • Polymer Clay
    • Quilting Ideas
    • Recycled Crafts
    • Scrapbooking
    • Sewing Patterns
    • Card Making
    • DIY Weddings
    • Not Craft Ideas
  • Giveaways
  • Roundups
  • Store
  • Search

Review: Sports Alphabets to Cross Stitch

October 24, 2016 by Sarah White

Sports Alphabets to Cross Stitch review.This time of year is full of sports activities for kids, and if you like to personalize their bags — or anything else — in a crafty way you can combine their love of sports with your love of craft with a little help from Sports Alphabets to Cross Stitch.

This Leisure Arts booklet, with designs by Kristi Bryant, includes sports-themed alphabets for:

  • soccer
  • volleyball
  • bowling
  • golf
  • baseball
  • bouncy ball (yeah, I’m not sure, either)
  • tennis
  • basketball
  • hockey
  • football

The book also includes a design with football helmets, balls and stars, with room for words and the year to make a memory plaque. There’s also a sports-themed birth announcement, as well as blank charts for your own designs and a simple small alphabet should you want to combine the graphic images with regular text.

In many cases, as you can see in the samples on the cover, the balls cover up parts of the letters, so color choice will play a big role in your design’s readability. But these are definitely a fun starting off point for room decor, gifts for coaches and more.

The book is available as a paperback or downloadable PDF, both of which cost $9.99.

Save

Next Pattern:

  • 35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns
«
»

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]

Categories

Book Reviews Christmas Craft Businesses Craft Inspirations Craft News and Events Cross-Stitch Patterns & Charts Cross-Stitch Product Reviews Cross-Stitch Website Reviews Dogs & Cats Easter flowers Free Patterns Halloween More Cross Stitch Product Reviews spring Subversive Thanksgiving Tutorials and Patterns valentines day

RSS More Articles

  • How To Sew a Banner from felted wool sweaters
  • A Sweet Skater Dress to Knit
  • Printable Animal Flash Cards
  • 20 Cowl Crochet Patterns For Winter Gifting
  • Master the Art of Polka Dots with This Easy Painting Tutorial!
  • Do You Park Your Cross Stitch Thread? Try The Royal Roads Method
  • Etsy Spotlight – Sew Your Own Baby Dress with the Harper Dress Pattern PDF
  • July 4th Mini Scrapbook Album
  • Upcycled Writing Desk to Cocktail Cabinet
  • Create Stunning Pineapple String Art – A Fun and Easy Tutorial You Can’t Miss

Pick Your Blog

  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Quilting
  • Crochet
  • Home & Garden
  • Recycled Crafts
  • Scrapbooking
  • Card Making
  • Polymer Clay
  • Cross-Stitch
  • Edible Crafts
  • Felting
  • Glass Art
  • Indie Crafts
  • Kids Crafts
  • Jewelry Making
  • Lesson Plans
  • Needlework
  • Bath & Body
  • Party Ideas
  • Candle Making
  • DIY Weddings
  • Not Craft
  • Free Craft Projects

Copyright © 2025 · CraftGossip | Start Here | Contact Us | Link to Us | Your Editors | Privacy and affiliate policy