Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Your supervisor is adorable. Great work! Loving the bright colours.

Beautiful stitching! It's a big, detailed project but you're making great progress.

I started down the same path with my first HAED. Stitching full cross 2 over 1 on 22 count. It was a nightmare! Especially as I started in an area of confetti.

I now stitch 2 over 1 tent stitch on 25ct magic guide lugana and it's a dream. I can loop start and tent stitch goes so quickly. I stitch ...

Welcome to the forum! What do you like to stitch? There's many, many free charts available online.

Some of my favourites are:

Durene Jones (lots of cute animals)
Dragon Dreams (cute dragons!)
Gazette94 (more traditional designs)

Lots of libraries have subscriptions to cross stitch magazines ...

I've been bitten by the crochet bug recently, so I've been doing a lot more hooking than stitching lately. This l'il guy was finished yesterday. He's a gift for me nephew, who's a little obsessed with Ninja Turtles at the moment.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DsL5v71QQI0/VqmoMO7_ULI ...

Plum Pudding is looking beautiful! I'm such a sucker for those purple colours.

Great progress! I love the little turtle in the bottom corner.

57 colours in that little patch so far is amazing work! Hope the rest of the project stitches up just as speedily.

I bought the Z frame with the clamp that is supposed to be for Qsnaps and it was a total fail. i was so disappointed! I have used it to hold a hoop, however, which it does well.[/quote]

Yeah, the Z frame doesn't play well with Q-Snaps without some modification. It took some frustrated googling and ...

Wow Mabel and Serinde, both those stitches look amazing! Mabel, I just *love* the fabric you chose.

Hmm... I think I'll go check out this SAL myself!

I just saw this SAL the other day too, and it's definitely calling to me. I'm a sucker for cute animal designs.

It completely depends on the designer as to how good a chart without fractionals or backstitch looks. I've stitched a few designs by Jayne Netley Mayhew and she can made incredibly beautiful charts with minimal fractionals and backstitching.

Some designers... well. They struggle to get the same ...

Welcome! I love stitching Dimension kits, I started out with them and still go back every so often. :) They're just so detailed. They can be pretty complex too! If you're comfortable stitching Dimensions you should be right to tackle anything.

What kinds of scenes do you like stitching? Animals ...

I use Q-Snaps in my K's Creations Z Lap Frame all the time. The clap has no problem with the thickness of a Q-Snap. There was an issue with the frame slipping out of the wood clamp, but I stuck some non-stick matting on the inside of the clamp and it works a charm. I've been using it for years ...

Hand dyed colours are always really tricky to wash safely.

Can you wash the projects now to see if the colour runs? That way you'll know what you're in for at the end. Wash only in cold water to prevent the dye running. Maybe try a color catcher cloth too, or make your own ? I confess I haven't ...

Kathy, I listen to podcasts while I stitch too! My absolute favourite is Radiolab, which tells amazing scientific and historical stories.

I love hand dyed threads and fabric, detailed animals designs (like Jayne Netley Mayhew) and the calm that stitching can bring.

I hate kits without pre-sorted thread and the 'modern' style of stitching big, blocky patterns (like the ones popular in Cross Stitcher at the moment!).

I do have my elbow bent when I use my lap stand, but I've never had any problem with my elbows when stitching. I do like my Z lap stand because I could switch my dominant stitching hand around when I had pain/RSI issues with my right wrist.

If you're a hoop and Q-Snap stitcher than a clamp stand ...

I love using blending filament to give a bit of bling to ornaments, biscornus and other smalls. I'm also currently stitching Patricia Allison's Autumn Dragon which has quite a lot of blending filament.

I agree with the others, using short lengths and knotting the filament to the needle is ...

I know DMC had to change a number of colours a few years back due to new environmental protection rules in the European Union. I think Anchor might've been in the same boat.

I imagine the companies would try to avoid colour changes if possible! They must know how irritating it is for stitchers.