Newbie post about order of stitches

[Berrygirl]

ok. I have a question. I just started out doing cross stitching, and so far it makes much more sense to me if I am using, blue, to finish using that thread of blue before I move on to another color. I have been looking through the WIP's and I see many people are working on grids, where there are many 1 off colors, with a stitch here, or a stitch there.

What is the pros/cons of these 2 techniques, beyond preference?

[coffee_freak]

well i decide..based on pattern..now to stitch.
If i can do a big chunk of one color,without carrying over the thread..that I do stitch all of the one color first.
seems easier to me.

Now big projects with lots of pages..it's easier to grid and do square by square ,one page at a time..usually they use parking..

there are a lot of info threads here..under tips and tricks..

and welcome!!

[RosemaryH]

Welcome to the forum from Spain.

Unfortunately there is no clearcut definitive answer to your question because everyone gradually settles into their own favourite method which develops through doing a few cross stitch pictures.

I personally have never gridded my fabric whilst others grid all of their projects. Using one colour until you have completed it is great until the day that you have 'pale blue' in the sky and the sea or the garden or the little boys trousers and you happily stitch along and start on the next colour and then find that you have miscounted between the patches of 'pale blue', then you just want to sit and cry. So once again it also depends on the picture that you are doing, your counting ability (we all make mistakes in counting no matter how good we think we are), whether you get bored with a colour (thats me) or whether you work from right to left, left to right, top to bottom, bottom to top, from the middle or from a certain focal point.

Difficult, but you really will find your own working method in time.

Rosemary

[Rose]

Hello Berrygirl

beyond preference?

You have hit the nail right on the head. There is no, my way is better or my way will make it easier. That would be very arrogant and you will not find that around here. We would love to give you an easy answer of this way or that but we can't.
Some can not work without the grids and some never us a grid. Some have to start in the middle of the pattern or they are lost. Some on top some on bottom. It really is what makes you happy and easy to the way that you stitch. Sorry to be so vague but that is the joys of stitching.

Hope to see you around the forum often.

[crazycat]

hate to admit it but i get lost regardless of where i start. messed up a tiny xmas card. teddy has no eyes mooo i have always started in the middle but i have been tempted to try this other method. does it cut down on your frogging?

[Mabel Figworthy]

Hello Berrygirl, welcome to the forum!

As others have said, there is no right or wrong way -- just try several methods until you hit upon the one that works for you. Personally I cannot work in squares using gridding -- I'd go start-staring bonkers . I take one colour, do as much of it as I possibly can (usually all, as I do smallish designs, but if one patch is a very long way away from the rest the risk of miscounting is too great), then move on to the next:









I have occasionally miscounted, but it doesn't happen often; and as I said, if one patch of the colour I'm working on is a very long way away from the rest I do leave it until I've filled in the fabric in between with other colours.

I suppose I just like the way the picture builds up with colour after colour added -- although I find it fascinating to see those big HAED projects grow page by page too , but it's just not my way.

Good luck finding out what your method is going to be!

[~threadbear~]

Hmm, I think I'm more or less like Mabel.
I did one pattern with four pages to it, page by page, but even then, I did each of the colours as much as I could before moving on to the next.

[agi]

I usually do chunks of the same colour, too. If I do a bigger project (not that I have much experience with them) I divide it into smaller parts, like 4-5 blocks in my grid, and do the same. Then I fill in the other colours of that part, and start again in another.

I love my grids, they help me to count. It's much easier to count, 3 from line 30, than to count 33. I make much less mistakes since I started gridding.

I hope you'll find what is best for you.

[lacemaker2004]

I guess I'm a clump of color kind of girl normally. I've only approached psuedo-gridding on one project that is pretty much all confetti stitching tht is all in shades of black, greys through lavenders. I had about 25% done so I couldn't put the actual grid lines in, instead I'm just working within the 10 x10 box before moving to the next set. It seems to be working for me.

As Rose said, there is no right or wrong, it's what ever works for you and keeps the frustration down. I personally find that if I do too much one color it drives me nuts.

[Angel]

I think it all depends on preference. There is no right or wrong way.

What I do is I look at my colour list find a colour I want to work with (Like on my forever friends design that beautiful cherry red) and just start. Do a block, if I can easily move onto the next one I do, if not find one of the surrounding colours I like and go again. Here's a slideshow of what I do to put it in perspective (you need to click the picture because I can't insert the actual slideshow):


But if I was doing something really big...I think I would grid my fabric...and continue to use this same method. I'd grid it because it'd make counting easier.

[Becca]

I do chunks of colour. I take a colour and either finish the thread of it or do as many stitches as i can that are close by of that colour. Then i pick another colour that is close by and do all of that.

[Sarah Gixxer]

I normally start in the middle of a project and work outwards. I'll pick whatever colour is the middle stitch and then do as much as I can of that colour, without moving more than 10 stitches away from the block I'm working on - if the next block of that colour is further away, I leave it until I've filled in the gap in between so I don't risk losing count. Having said that, I thought I would try starting from one corner on the next project I do, rather than in the middle.

[Pengwenn]

Well, sticking with one color might mean you have big gaps between stitches which could lead to miscounting or having long tails of thread across the back of your piece. If those tails get covered up it might not be such a big deal, but if they're across an open area they could show through your fabric and be visible from the front side. And if you miscounted the number of spaces before you started stitching again you might find yourself undoing a lot of your work.

If you use gridding then there's a lot of work that needs to be done before you can even start to stitch. While it might make things easier to manage on a larger project it can be a little tedious and borring to stitch. Instead of looking at how the image is coming about you're looking at the next 10 x 10 square.

I've done both ways and while each has good and bad things about it I guess it all depends on you and the project you're doing. And you don't just have to stick with the same way for every project you do.

[charmagne_capalad]

Hello Berrygirl and welcome!

As what the others has posted there is no rule on this...just what works well with each and everyone and it really differs...because it depends on what system you will find more comfortable to work with.

As for me, I always start at the top leftmost part of the chart....
...for small projects I do it one color at a time.
...for large projects I do it per block of squares (10 x 10 or 20 x 20)...then do it at also one color at a time per block of squares. That way, I won't be afraid of miscounting. Large projects tend to be overwhelming! I will have to try gridding soon...as I think it would make it all easier.

[Lisa]

i do it the same way as mabel, on colour at a time, otherwise my head will hurt.

[sammy_v]

I tend to start in the middle and do as much as the colour i have started off with and then do the next colour that has the most colours next.

[kellyann]

I always start in the center and work out. A habit from quilting, if you start elsewhere the fabric puckers and does not lie straight. As far as colors go I work in small sections using one color at a time. I try not to jump too far ahead as I have miscounted quite a few times.

[rune]

Ive never done grid technique either, didnt even know about it to be honest until i read it here
I tend to do all of a colour right through a pattern, regardless of the size.
Find it easier to count were the other colours go if i start with the colour used the most

[minij]

Hi welcome to the forum

Like others have said there is no right or wrong way, usually I start in the middle do all of the one colour I can without carrying my thread over more than a couple of blocks and then work out from that with the other colours (if that makes sense) I like to see the picture building up from the middle.

However I have a larger project with quite a few pages and the instructions did say to start at the top left hand corner, so I did It's a WIP and I have only done about 400 stitches so far). Although I mainly do medium size projects I have never gridded, just have to count and count again and hope you don't make a mistake and when you do be prepared to frog

Just try a few different ways perhaps with small projects and find what is right for you, good luck