Here’s a belated post if ever there was any - a cross stitch I made for Scott’s mom back in the fall as a Christmas gift.

I found this kit on Etsy and its quality was superb; the charts were large and easy to read. and the floss wasn’t what you sometimes get in cheaper kits that feel like nails on a chalkboard (I’m looking at you, Hobby Lobby). You could select from a symbol chart, a color chart, or a combo (which is what I used) and I was able to chug along pretty easily.

That said, this is one of the bigger cross stitches I’ve completed, and for as much as I’ve committed to cross stitch (I just invested in a $350 HAED, for goodness sake), I’m still not sure I like anything with intense colorwork. Not that this butterfly is intense, but the little sections of a single color get on my nerves. I know there’s a better way to stop and start my stitches; I just have to find the method that works best for me. For example, I’ve learned I prefer the loop start best (although I’m working on a huge piece right now that requires starting with three strands, and although it’s still possible to do the loop start with three strands, it’s kind of annoying). I’ve also come across several tutorials for pin stitch, which might be a solution here, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll keep you posted.

It was nice to know that I was able to start and finish one of these larger, more detailed projects in just over a month. I started stitching it on election night because I needed to stab something 10,000 times and it was done the week before Christmas, so I’d consider that a success. It turns out the trick to finishing projects is actually setting aside time to work on them - who knew?