Year of the Horse Cross Stitch Patterns

The Lunar New Year begins on Feb. 17, 2026, and ushers in the year of the horse. To celebrate, let’s check out some year of the horse cross stitch patterns.

This 2026 lunar new year cross stitch pattern from Ptashka Lo reminds me a bit of the Olympics, which is appropriate since the winter Olympics will be taking place during the Lunar New Year. The pattern is 96 by 59 stitches and uses three colors. You can choose different colors for the lettering or the horse and for the background as well.

Poms and Knots has a pretty pink horse to celebrate the new year. This one includes lanterns and measures 93 by 90 stitches. It’s shown on 16 count fabric which makes the design 5.8 by 5.6 inches, or 14.8 by 14.3 cm. It can be done with two or three colors, and with or without metallic thread as you like.

This year’s horse is actually the fire horse, so you can honor that, too, with this fire horse cross stitch pattern from Ansta Shops. The pattern uses 11 colors and is 175 by 140 stitches. That comes out to about 12.5 by 10 inches, or 31.8 by 25.4 cm on 14 count fabric.

Make a horse from red flowers with this striking monochrome design from Stitch Heart UA. It calls for 4 colors and is 95 by 89 stitches, 0r about 6.8 by 6.4 inches/17.3 by 16.2 cm on 14 count fabric.

Use a single shade of red plus white to make Lady Stitchicorn‘s red horse design, which looks like a sketch more than a cross stitch pattern. At 51 by 42 stitches it measures 3.6 by 3.1 inches or a little more than 9 by 7.8 cm, when stitched up on 14 count fabric. The sample shown is 16 count fabric and in a 3-inch hoop.

Another take on the floral horse comes from Stonelane 1827, which has this lovely single color project that measures 199 by 200 stitches. That comes out to about 14 inches square, or 35.5 cm.

Or make this one from Care Cross Stitch, which uses the negative space to outline the horse. It uses 3 colors and comes out to about 8 inches/20.32 cm on 16 count fabric.

I love the My Little Pony vibes of this one from Crossweb. It’s 70 by 70 stitches and uses 12 colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to 5 inches/12.7 cm square.

10 Crochet Blankets For Horse Lovers [Crochet]

5 Dream Horse Coloring Pages [Card Making]

6 Free Horse Coloring Pages [Card Making]

A dala horse for Christmas [Needle Work]

Dala Horse Ornament – DIY tutorial [Felting]

As a knitter, I love a good sheep motif, so let’s take a look at some cute sheep cross stitch patterns.

If you want to stitch a little sheep, this mini square from Good Dog Needleworks is a nice choice. It uses just three colors and measures 32 by 32 stitches. That’s 2.2 inches or about 5.5 cm square if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

I also love these two little sheep, which you can stitch together or in individual hoops and shown. The designs are form Threadbound Art and use six colors. They are slightly different in size, with one being 21 by 17 stitches and the other 21 by 20. They fit in four inch frames if you work them on 14 count fabric.

You can stitch a sweet sheep bookmark with this design from Kits by SA Stitch. This is not for the person who doesn’t like back stitch, because there’s a lot of that here, but it is really cute. It measures 30 by 91 stitches and uses 10 colors. That will make your bookmark about 2.4 by 6.5 inches, or 6 by 16.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Stitch a pretty scene of sheep in a meadow with this design from Motok Nytok. It uses 21 colors and the design is 99 by 73 stitches. On 14 count fabric that makes it about 7.07 by 5.21 inches, or 17.96 by 13.24 cm.

This yarn full of cross stitch sheep has a bit of a knitting twist because the sheep all look like they have sweaters on. The design is from Soda Stitch Design and it measures 179 by 216 stitches. The full design uses 27 colors. On 14 count fabric it will work out to 12.78 by 15.42 inches, or 32.48 by 39.19 cm.

Another great one with a knitting theme is this one where the wool is coming off the sheep and straight onto the needles. This one is from Happy Cross Stitchers and uses 12 colors. The pattern is 137 by 137 stitches, which comes out to 9.7 inches or 24.86 cm square on 14 count fabric. This would be a fun one to stitch for the knitter in your life (even if that is you).

Or you can stitch the field of sheep of a knitter’s dreams with the Happy Sheep chart from Charts and Stuff. These per-colored sheep can be stitched as shown or worked in any colors you like. The eyes are French knots but you can just stitch them in white if you’d rather.

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