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]

Inkspire Studio Shops offers cross stitch patterns as well as tons of different stitch minders, scissor charms and thread organization tools.

We’ll get to all that, but since we’re mostly here for the patterns, let’s start there.

All of the patterns are in one category (called Inkspire Originals if you’re following along). There are a lot of book-themed projects and more of the designs are bookmarks than anything else. You’ll find trope bookmarks, a Reading Rainbow themed design, flowers and a super cute watercolor set bookmark, to name a few.

And while the book themed projects are by far the most numerous, I wanted to share this super cute pile of vintage Pyrex style bowls. I love the colors on this one and it should be easy to stitch because so much of it is blocks (or bowls) of a single color. This one is only available as a printed pattern, but most of them are digital.

It calls for six colors and comes out 5.6 by 6.9 inches, or 14.2 by 17.5 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric.

In addition to the bookmarks and book themed projects you’ll find a few kitchen projects and some Halloween and Christmas designs as well.

But what this shop is really about is needle minders, and there are tons of them, with all kinds of themes ranging from introverted and snarky to animal themes, food and beverages, retro designs and religious and inspiring needle minders.

If you don’t know about needle minders, these are acrylic with magnets. You stick a magnet to the back of your work, add the needle minder to the front of the work, and then it holds your sewing needle when you’re not stitching. No need for piercing your fabric or losing your needle between stitching sessions.

She also makes charms you can attach to your scissors (or use as a stitch marker if you’re a knitter or crocheter), inventory and project trackers and bags large and small to hold works in progress and other supplies. She’s also got a great collection of vintage cross stitch patterns and kits, so check out all the fun goodies at Inkspired Studio Shops.

[Photo: Inkspire Studio Shops]

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