Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint
What count fabric do you prefer? I usually prefer stitching on 28-count evenweave and 18-count Aida
myself. The older I get, the more I am liking 14-count Aida though! Let us know what count you prefer in the comments section below. Has it changed over the years?
The fabric show here is Light Plum Hand Dyed 22-count fabric from Stitchnmomma’s shop in Etsy.
Cute spooky and fantasy cross stitch patterns is how the designer behind Haunted Frames describes their shop, and I have to agree with them. These designs are cute and Gothic and a little bit spooky all at once. There’s a heavy focus on book themes, which you know I am a fan of, so let’s get into it.
Stopping first in the books section, there are lots of designs that are literally on book shapes, but if you know my love of both books and cats, you’ll know I had to share the Midnight Book Cart cross stitch pattern. As the name suggests it’s a design with a witchy book cart, complete with a spiderweb, bats flying out of a book and what it describes as a ghost cat (though I would have to make a black cat instead of a white one since I have a black cat, and that fits with the vibe).
The design is 65 by 97 stitches and is worked in 17 colors. It’s shown on 16 count fabric, which makes it 4.1 by 6.1 inches, or 10.3 by 15.4 cm.
I also love the winter themed little free library design, which would be perfect to stitch up for the little librarian in your life (or to drop at a neighborhood book space).
Projects with a book theme make up the majority of the patterns that are categorized in this shop, but you’ll want to scroll through all their patterns to see what else is available, since it doesn’t look like everything is in a category. You’ll find castles and dragons, more cats of course, some more obviously Halloween and Christmas themed projects and those that would suit for spooky season or any other time of year.
If cute and dark is your aesthetic, you’ll want to check out all the patterns at www.etsy.com/shop/HauntedFrames, which you can find on Etsy.
[Photo: Haunted Frames]
I used to only use 14ct Aida, but then I stopped stitching for many years. Now I am trying to sort out what is what – If I am going to take the time to stitch, I want it to look nice, last a long time, and not look like I did a dot-to-dot, or color-by-number. I’d really like to use linen but it seems really expensive, and I don’t really know exactly what to look for.
When I first started stitching as a child/young adult I only used 14 ct Aida and kits. Then after I graduated from high school in 1985, I started using charts from Joann’s or the magazines, but still used Aida. Now that I’ve come back to stitching in the past few years and found evenweave I find that I love stitching 2 over 28ct on either Jobelan or Lugana as my favorites.
28 count linen (I especially like the slubby look of natural linens) and 32 ct jobelan and lugana are my favorites (I love the “feel” of these cotton/rayon hybrid evenweaves), but I’ll stitch on anything if it fits the project concept!
Like everyone else, I started my stitching “career” on AIDA but learned to love the flexibility the evenweaves give for things like half and quarter stitches, etc.
I really enjoy stitching on 36ct evenweave and linen. I’m currently stitching on a piece of 30ct hand-dyed linen and that’s pretty nice as well.
I stitch on a variety of fabric counts but I have to say one of my favorites is 28 count over one. I like Lugana or glenshee linen but my current favorite is the lambswool linen from Wichelt-Permin. Honestly, it depends on the chart!
14 for me! Haven’t done as much cross-stitch as I used to but my eyes aren’t getting any better. (I’m in my 60’s) 14 is fairly comfortable so I’ll stick with that & will try to do more cross-stitch!
Thanx for sharing a great experience.For a better result you may try Cross Stitch Fabric also.