new cross stitcher needing help

[mummyb]

hi. i am new to cross stitching and after reading as much info as i could i still have a problem.. when i have completed the cross, if i want to use the same colour in the square above what do i need to do because i seem to have to go up through the same hole i have just gone down, which obviously means i undo the last part of the last stitch. i must be missing something quite simple and obvious to all you pro's but it has got me stumped

thanks for any help you can give me

[mags]

Was a bit confused to start with but now realise what you mean. I usually work down the pattern so that you don't get that problem. However, not to worry just do your first stitch on the next row by coming up diagonally opposite where you have just gone down and then go down where you went down before, and then carry on the row as you would have done. Hope that makes sense. Someone else can probably explain better than me or to do it another way and with diagrams.

I am presuming here that as you are new to cross stitch you are not yet trying to make the back of your work just as good as the front.

[CayenneCat]

Ooh ooh - I know the answer to this one!

If you look at the bottom of this web site, they have pictures on how to stitch vertically from the bottom of the row towards the top:

http://www.threadneedlestreet.com/Hints.html

It's worked for me.

Hope that helps!

[MaggieM1750]

It all depends on the way you work through your pattern.
I plan a "route" for my threads. So I sort of start and end at the same spot.

If this is a block of my fabric

A B C D
1 2 3 4
E F G H

I bring my needle- up at E down at 2. up at F down at 3 up at G down at 4.
Then when I go back to cross- up at H down at 3. up at G down at 2. up at F down at 1. So, the back of my fabric is a series of vertical lines. (which I then use to run my needle under to end my thread)
So, when I start the next row- Up at B down at 1. up at 2 down at C...
More or less.. sometimes I'll change where my last stitch ends- thats just something you'll pick up the more you stitch (like most things with this craft)

(but to complicate things even more, when I have large blocks of the same color, I don't go row by row. I do the under stitches of the whole area first, working horizontally, then when I come back to cross, I work vertically... my own wierd way of working through a pattern. I think back and forth, row by row can look stripey when in large blocks)

[rcperryls]

I usually work my way down a pattern so to use Maggie's example
A B C D
1 2 3 4
E F G H
I go up at 1 down at B up at 2 down at C and then on the way back go up at 3 down at B up at 2 down at A. If I was working my way up I would do it the same as Maggie does.
You will find the way that is most comfortable to you. I also plan a path if I have stitches that are not in a block so it sometimes is a bit all over the place.

Carole

[mummyb]

Thanks everyone. I will ponder on all the fantastic tips over the weekend and hopefully get started on Monday (when the children are at school). Can't wait. And you are right mags at this stage the back is the last thing i am concerned with.