Cross Stitch

I remember when I was a child and my mother taught me how to do cross stitch. Of course back then (we're talking about 45 years ago), I was using stamped cross stitch, which I believe to be the easiest. All you need to do is follow the color chart for the pattern printed on the material. I was always amazed that after you were done with your product and once you washed it, the light blue printing all went away and the handmade design was all that was left. My mother, bless her heart, still has some of the pieces I made when I was a child. And when I look at the quality of the stitchery from back then, I just laugh to myself; because I would not accept that quality of work today.

Now that I'm older, I have taken on the challenge of completing counted cross stitch patterns. They are much more tedious and require an eye for detail. And yes, I have made my fair share of mistakes where I had to go back and rip out several rows of work to fix a miscount of stitches. I learned very quickly that I could not do multitasking projects when working my counted cross stitch. But, the final results are well worth the effort.

I really enjoy doing different seasonal table cloths and table runners. The compliments my work received at craft shows always made me feel good. It was nice people would appreciate the time and effort that went into my work. If you are interested in getting started there are many different stamped cross stitch kits available. Do a computer search on "counted cross stitch." Now days, they even have computer programs that can design any picture into a cross stitch pattern. What will they come up with next? Take some time to learn this ancestral craft. Happy stitching.