Stitch up a Sweet Diwali Greeting

I try to share cross stitch patterns for lots of different holidays and occasions, even if they aren’t something I’m that familiar with. Thanks to the large Indian population where I live, I have learned a little bit about Diwali through the years and love to share information about this festival of light.

Diwali is all about the victory of light over darkness and good over evil, and it is celebrated by Hindus and other Indian religions. It is celebrated on the Hindu calendar so it moves around between September and November, and the celebrations last for several days.

There are many symbols related to Diwali but one of the most common is the clay lamp or diya, which pays respect to the sun and symbolizes the light of wisdom.

The diya is the focus of this pretty Diwali cross stitch pattern with the sentiment “Spread Light, Spread Joy” and the diya held in two cupped hands.

The design is from Luba Davies Atelier on Etsy, and it measures 125 by 125 stitches. On 14 count fabric that would make it 9 by 9 inches, or 22.68 cm. If you want to make it smaller, using 18 count fabric would make it 7 inches on each side, or 17.64 cm.

I love the look of this using a brightly colored cross stitch fabric, but of course you can use whatever you like and what fits with your decor. You could also change the colors for the hands if you wish to show a darker skin tone.

As it is written the pattern uses 10 colors, and it incorporates full cross stitches, back stitch and French knots.

You can find the pattern on Etsy.

Looking for more Diwali cross stitch patterns? Check out this pattern for a diya, this one showing hanging lanterns and this pretty mandala that’s similar to a Diwali ragnoli.

[Photo: Luba Davies Atelier]

Siren Stitchworks has cross stitch patterns that feel like old samplers (and some of them are in fact historical reproductions) even when they are modern designs. They have patriotic patterns, biscornus, pop culture patterns and more so let’s take a look.

One of the projects that caught my eye was the Mexican menagerie, a set of five Mexican folk art inspired creatures. There’s a bird, horses, dragons, alligators and cats on these designs, which you can make into tiny pillow or ornaments.

The pattern notes don’t say how many colors are used but it doesn’t look like any of them have more than five colors. It does note the smallest pattern is 59 by 59 stitches, and the largest is 82 by 68 stitches. They also only use full cross stitches.

The category with the largest number of entries (which is still only 12 as of this writing; this is a small shop) is called ornaments and smalls. It includes this menagerie and another Mexican animal collection, as well as traditional looking patterns with a twist, such as a little pattern with Yule goats, a needlebook cover that looks like a tombstone and alphabet samplers that include Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

There are also a bunch of samplers, divided into monochrome, traditional and reproduction samplers. There are some fun ones in the monochrome department, including a Titanic sampler and an aloha design with a pineapple motif. Traditional samplers include some patriotic designs (and a gorgeous folk art resist fist), as well as a really fat cat.

And the reproduction samplers include fun fonts, florals and birds like you’d expect from old sampler designs.

In addition you’ll find a few pop culture designs (mostly Game of Thrones inspired samplers for different houses), biscornus include a couple Chinese zodiac designs, and a few needle minders for sale.

Check out all the fun designs at Siren Stitchworks on Etsy.

[Photo: Siren Stitchworks]

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