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.
I don’t know why it still surprises me that there are cross stitch patterns available for almost anything you can think of. I wasn’t looking for pool themed cross stitch patterns, but in scrolling around Etsy looking more generally for summer cross stitch patterns, I found a lot of pool patterns so I figured I should share them.
I love the colors in these designs, almost as cool as sliding into the pool on a hot day.
The first one I found was Pool Party by Milky Stitch. It features someone lounging in the pool, someone lounging next to the pool, and some fun accessories you might need for a day at the pool. It uses 20 colors and was designed for 11 count fabric, which means it comes out to 12.2 by 8.2 inches, or 31 by 21 cm.
Pastel Pool from Stitch Me Good Designs looks like it would fit right in with Pool Party on a gallery wall. This one uses seven colors and 14 count fabric and fits in a 7-inch hoop.
Speaking of gallery walls, if you want a room full of summer sun and pool themed cross stitch, check out this trifecta of pool designs from Craft Bundle Lab. There’s a women floating in a pool with a large hat, a float in a pool and several floats and pool toys in another pool with a fun checkerboard bottom. Each design uses 12 colors and they are about 14.6 inches/37 cm square worked on 14-count fabric.
This designs from Cross Stitchers United shows three people floating in a pool in different ways. This one has cross stitched water, or you can stitch it on blue fabric and save yourself some time. As shown it uses nine colors and is 94 by 94 stitches, which is 6.7 inches or 17 cm square on 14-count fabric.
The Swimmers in a Pool cross stitch pattern from Thread Nova Studios is delightful. It’s stitched with everyone wearing red suits, but you could change up some of them — or even just one of them — to change the look of the project. This one uses 14 colors and is 200 by 200 stitches. That’s about 14.3 inches/36.3 cm on 14 count fabric, though the pattern includes sizing for other stitch counts, too.
And finally the pool pattern from The Lady at Home just makes you wish you could jump right into it. The pool with floats looks super inviting, and it is stitched on 14-count fabric with a finished size of 5 by 7 inches/12.7 by 17.8 cm.
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.