Embroidered Tote or Pillow Many of us have boxes and stacks of artwork our children bring home from school that we cherish and want to save. My sons are fully grown and I still of boxes of their primary school drawings. Here’s an idea for preserving those memories, and if your children are still young, this would be a great way to highlight their work.

This is an idea I thought was so adorable, and so special I just had to share it.

Knit or Crochet a Heart for Valentine's Day

In honor of Valentine’s this year I’ve drawn a simple heart chart to inspire your next knit or crochet project. The panel can be  a wash cloth, the start of a potholder/hot pad, or even a block for a blanket. I saved the chart as a PDF file you can download and print.

For our knitters out there, the edges are 5 rows/stitches in garter stitch (knit both sides). This not only adds a nice frame to the piece, but it also stops it from curling. If you’d like the final product to be a wash cloth, use 100% cotton worsted weight yarn. For my sample shown here, I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in Dusty Green and Cranberry and size 8 needles. The interior of the square is stockinette stitch (knit right side, purl wrong side).

Stitching Chart

The graph can be knitted as shown, changing yarn colors for the heart. Or if you’re not comfortable yet with changing colors, knit the panel all in one color, then use Duplicate Stitch and a second color yarn, as I’ve done in the sample, to add the heart.

If you would rather crochet the heart, use the single crochet stitch throughout. You can single crochet in back loops only for the border stitches, to give the edges a slightly different texture than the main body, and single crochet in both loops for the interior. When you need to change colors for the heart, use the tapestry crochet technique of carrying the unused color along the tops of your stitches and crocheting over it as you go. This way you don’t need to worry about weaving in cut ends or attaching multiple balls of yarn as you move back and forth following the chart. It also gives you a firm fabric, which is nice if you plan to use the square as a pot holder or hot pad.

Just as with the knitted version, there is a stitching alternative if you don’t want to change colors while crocheting, and add the heart design after the piece is finished. With crochet, you can cross-stitch over the single crochet rows with your second color, following the blocks on the chart.

These links below provide additional information to help you with this project:

Sweaterscapes.com: Changing Yarn Colors While Knitting (Intarsia)

Squidoo.com: Intarsia Knitting Tutorial and Video

KarensVariety.com: Knit Duplicate Stitch

Videojug.com: Changing Yarn Colors while Crocheting (Video)

iWeb.tntech.edu: Tapestry Crochet Technique For Working With Two Colors

CraftStylish.com: Cross-stitch on Single Crochet

Additional inspiration for your crochet this Valentine’s Day–frame a heart shaped doily:

Valentine's Day Crochet Framed

One of my favorite needlework designers is Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum of Told in a Garden.

Several years ago I spent an entire winter stitching one of her gorgeous angel designs, Angel of Hope. According to her website, this angel was designed during Desert Storm and the yellow ribbons represent our hope for peace.

During this trying time for the people of Haiti, it seems appropriate to post this picture of my finished Angel of Hope.

The best way that we can all help the people of Haiti is to contribute money to the organizations on the ground so that they can distribute supplies where they are most needed.

With so many scams and con men looking to take advantage of this tragedy, it makes sense to go to the well known groups that account for the money and have the most experience in managing a cirsis like this. Here are a few trusted organiations that could use our help:

The American Red Cross

Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders)

The White House

And because I’m always looking for new ways to apply thread and yarn to fabric and canvas, we’ll be exploring the vast world of needlework, too, bringing designers and stitchers to share their expertise with us as well.

Let me know what you want to see here, too, and let’s unleash some creative energy!

Counted cross stitch transfers a design from a printed graph onto evenweave fabric. The stitcher uses embroidery floss to place X’s on the fabric corresponding to symbols on the chart. Each symbol on the chart represents one X on the fabric. The different styles of symbols on the chart represent different colors of floss.Cross stitch is easy to learn and requires only a few supplies.

Graph. This is the pattern or design you chose to stitch. There are thousands to choose from.

Evenweave fabric. The fabric for cross stitch is woven in an even manner so that you know exactly where to place your needle. To keep the fabric from raveling either sew the edges on a sewing machine or use Fray Stop to prevent fraying.

Needle. A tapestry needle is used, usually a size 24 or 26 (size 26 is smaller than size 24). This type of needle has a blunt point and a large eye. Use a size 24 for stitching on 14 count fabric; use a size 26 for fabric with a stitch count greater than 14.

Floss. Embroidery floss is a cotton thread used for stitching. Floss has 6 strands, but usually you will use only 2 strands at a time for stitching and 1 strand for backstitching. On Hardanger fabric (22 count) you usually will use only 1 strand; on 11 count Aida use 3 strands to stitch and 2 to backstitch. Most books and graphs suggest either DMC or Anchor brands.

Embroidery hoop. A plastic embroidery hoop is helpful to hold the fabric while you stitch. Remove the fabric from the hoop when you are not stitching to keep from getting ‘hoop marks.’

Scissors. You can start out with any pair of scissors, but pretty soon you will want to get a nice pair of small embroidery scissors. Get a good quality pair with sharp points. A good pair of scissors makes stitching a lot more fun.

Choosing Your Fabric

There are dozens of fabrics to choose from. They will all work, so you just have to decide on what you like. White or ivory Aida 14 is the most common and 14 count is an easy fabric to start on. The number of stitches per inch will determine the finished size of the design. A design that is 28 stitches wide stitched on Aida 14 (14 stitches per inch fabric) will be 2″ wide. The same design will be 2 1/2″ wide on Aida 11, and 1 1/4″ stitched on hardanger (22 stitches per inch). Thankfully, most designs show design sizes for different counts of fabrics. Be sure to allow extra fabric for finishing (at least 4″ extra on length and width).

To Begin

Find the center of the graph. For most patterns this is shown with arrows or a bold line. Next, find the center of your fabric. An easy way to do this is to fold the fabric in half vertically and “pinch” with your finger to make a small crease. Open the fabric, fold in half horizontally and make another “pinch”. Open the fabric up. The two creases will mark the center of the fabric. Most stitchers like to start stitching close to the center of the design. For the “I Like You” graph, start with the pink balloon.

Knots on the back will show through, so do not use any knots to start or end. To begin stitching, bring the threaded needle up from the back of the fabric leaving about a 1″ tail of thread behind the fabric. Stitch the next 5 or 6 stitches over the tail. Clip off extra thread. To end off, weave your needle back through the last 5 or 6 stitches and clip the thread short so as not to leave a loose tail.

Stitching

There are two methods. The first method is to work a row of half stitches (////), then work back (\\\\) to complete the X’s. Use this method for most stitching. The second method is to complete each X as you go. Use this method for vertical rows of stitches.

It is important that all the X’s are crossed in the same direction. That is, the top thread of the X should always slant in the same direction (either \ or /). It does not matter which way they slant, but if they are mixed the finished piece will look uneven.

Relax as you stitch. Your stitches should lay flat on your fabric and not distort the holes or the fabric.

Backstitching

Backstitching is a running stitch (not an X) used to outline an area or to form lettering. In the graph, the words “I Like You” and the strings on the balloons are done in backstitch. Normally you use one less strand of floss for backstitching than you use for cross stitching.

Carrying Your Thread

Sometimes a color will have only a few stitches and then “jump” to another area. Most of the time you should end off and start again, other times you can carry the thread along the back. Just jumping from area to area is easier than starting and stopping, but sometimes the thread will show through. This can be a problem if you jump a dark thread over an unstitched area of light fabric. In general, you can carry the thread to another area if the jump is short, the floss color is light, and you are jumping over a previously stitched area. In the “I Like You” graph, the white highlights on the three balloons can be done by starting at the top balloon, jumping to the middle balloon, and then jumping to the bottom balloon.

Finishing

When your stitching is complete, wash in cool water using a mild liquid detergent. Rinse well. Do not wring, but roll in a clean towel to absorb most of the water. While still damp, place face down on a terry towel. Place another cloth on top of the needlework and press lightly with a warm iron. Let dry. Then frame or finish as desired. The “I Like You” design will fit nicely in a flat round, scalloped, or octagonal glass paperweight.

Thanks to Yarn Tree for these instructions.

Yarn Tree offers this excellent video to learn Cross-Stitch.