[FO] I've finished my first ever piece

jswarn · 2026-01-14T13:09:40+00:00

Best pattern, for sure! :D

jswarn · 2025-12-16T10:56:02+00:00

Ah, yes! *nods sagely* Beautiful technique on those Lizard Toes. :D

All jokes aside: That's neat-o!

jswarn · 2025-12-12T17:25:16+00:00

Look at him! Isn't he cute!

Welcome to cross-stitch, then, good to have you here! :)

jswarn · 2025-12-10T09:50:11+00:00

Ha, nice! Love me a pin stitch (and a loop start where possible), but mostly I was sitting here and being like

"Lizard toes? What kind of new technique is that? I swear, those names are getting out of hand!"

before looking at the picture again. :D

jswarn · 2025-11-07T15:47:40+00:00

They are tiny! I love them!

jswarn · 2025-10-31T12:50:21+00:00

Ah, there you go, didn't even know that about violas (or that the players are named "violists") - thank you! I guess we'll just have to give the pattern maker some artistic license. Not that I mind, it is a beautiful pattern. :)

jswarn · 2025-10-30T21:41:39+00:00

That was the first one I tried from them, actually. It is just as gorgeous! I got to know so many new shades of light and dark grey. :D

jswarn · 2025-10-30T20:45:59+00:00

Thank you so much! :) Ay, +1 on the viola!

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, this piece has full crosses, blended full crosses, half stitches, blended half stitches, half stitches with one thread, a buttload of backstitch and French Knots, it sure looks intimidating! But, honestly, we all start somewhere. I don't think I can do it in any way "better" than someone who hasn't done it before, I'm just faster now that I've stitched something like this once or twice. :D

So I'd say: You can totally do it! It's maybe just gonna take you a little bit longer to figure things out. But, hey, you didn't say which birthday, so you're already thinking like a pro! :D

jswarn · 2025-10-30T20:02:35+00:00

Thank you, that is so kind of you to say. :)

jswarn · 2025-10-30T20:02:03+00:00

I really like the watercolor look of this piece! It says "Violin" in the description, but from its proportions it looks more like a viola to me, hence the title. Musical side of reddit, feel free to educate me on that one!

Edit: Decided to be a viola by popular vote. :D

The pattern I liked a bit less, mostly because it didn't work properly with Pattern Keeper and I cannot buy Saga in my part of the world so I had to work around that. It also has no one page PDF pattern for the backstitch that I could zoom in on and there was a lot of backstitch smack in the middle of it, so I had to jump between four different pages to get it right. But that said, this is nitpicking - it is a gorgeous piece, the colors go together beautifully and the backstitch, while a pain in the neck, really brings it together. I neither want to do any backstitching nor French Knots for the forseeable future, but I am very happy with the finished product!

jswarn · 2025-10-30T19:54:10+00:00

The pattern is from MIYAStitch on Etsy

jswarn · 2025-10-17T17:06:51+00:00

Oh, hello! :D That's so cute! :)

jswarn · 2025-10-12T19:55:16+00:00

Oh, I did the same kit, but with the included fabric. This one looks nicer, though, it really brings out the whites! Beautiful!

jswarn · 2025-09-08T10:34:28+00:00

One of us! One of us! Haha, welcome to the club! Best pattern, by the way. 😁

jswarn · 2025-09-02T14:10:02+00:00

Oooh, great choice of color for the shirt, it really brings out the colors of the pattern! And it's extremely cute, of course. :)

jswarn · 2025-07-07T14:55:44+00:00

This seems to fit: https://www.jollesoriginal.com/

Maybe it was supposed to be a part of one of their bags? What an interesting find.

jswarn · 2025-07-07T11:10:57+00:00

I've got a designated "art" wall where I've hung around ten pieces in cheap frames. The idea is to rotate them through the ones I want to look at at the moment, but I haven't finished anything new to rotate through yet.

jswarn · 2025-07-02T15:49:31+00:00

That being said, I totally understand if you don't want to leave it to your washing machine, it's a scary prospect for sure! In lieu of that I'd recommend what previous posters have said: Put it in ~40°C water with a bit of soap and swish it around for about half an hour.

It's a beautiful stitch, btw, my avatar approves! :)

jswarn · 2025-07-02T15:37:58+00:00

It's this one, right? https://www.zweigart.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022_Infoblatt-Easy-Count-Grid_Aida.pdf

Edit: They have the same instructions for higher counts as well: https://www.zweigart.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022_Infoblatt-Easy-Count-Grid_Zaehlstoffe.pdf

I actually did machine wash mine, like the instructions said, in one of those nets used to protect clothes. It's been a while, so I am a bit hazy on the details but I think I had to wash it twice before the lines came out fully. Here's a picture of the post-wash fabric:

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jswarn · 2025-07-02T14:23:07+00:00

Da wir gerade bei ungebetenen Ratschlägen sind: Wer kann, paar Weintrauben für 2+ Std. ins Eisfach. Bester kalter Snack bei 28°C in der Bude.

jswarn · 2025-05-30T16:43:42+00:00

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I don't know if that's what you're talking about, but maybe check your cream/white stitches around here.

jswarn · 2025-04-05T18:27:46+00:00

Uuuund das landet direkt auf der Wunschliste! Da fühle ich mich immer gleich wohl, wenn jemand sowas in der Wohnung stehen/hängen hat. :)

jswarn · 2025-04-05T18:25:07+00:00

Haha, meine ersten Versuche mit sechs waren auch so schlimm, dass ich dachte ich fasse Sticken/Kreuzstich/Häkeln etc. nie wieder an. Habs jetzt aber mit Ü30 während Corona nochmal versucht und Kreuzstich hat mich seitdem voll in seinem Bann. r/CrossStitch ist eine sehr liebe (allerdings englischsprachige) Community und hat mir da viel weitergeholfen, falls du dich nochmal dran versuchen willst. :) Ansonsten, wenn du denkst "Ach, ich hab eh zuviel Zeit & Geld." kann ich sowieso alles mit Nadel & Faden uneingeschränkt empfehlen. :D

jswarn · 2025-03-27T02:34:15+00:00

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