There are many reasons why you should start cross stitching but we will only mention the top 5!
Reason 1: Cross stitching is a wonderful inexpensive hobby. You only need to buy a cross stitch kit that will last you for weeks or months and it will give you many hours of joy and achievement every day! There are also many sites that offer free cross stitch charts so you only need to buy the materials. Just search online for free cross stitch patterns and you will find a huge variety to save and print from your computer.
Reason 2: Avoid spending hours visiting shops just to buy a gift. Why not stitch a card of a design and give it to your friends and family? When birthdays or anniversaries are coming up stitch something for your friends and family. It is very original and personal and everyone will appreciate the time and effort you have put into it.
Reason 3: Cross stitch is a very relaxing hobby. Try stitching in front of the TV or while listening to a CD. It is also perfect after a stressful day at the office.
Reason 4: You can take your cross stitch anywhere! On your holiday, while waiting for doctors, dentist appointments.
Reason 5: Cross stitch is a hobby for all seasons! Other outdoor hobbies like cycling, or walking are not fun when you have to be outside on cold rainy days. When you do not want to go out in the rain or snow, enjoy stitching in your warm home.
This page, from Yarn Tree, will give you a color picture of the DMC floss colors arranged in color families (not by color number). The picture comes from a DMC thread color book. Although not exact, the colors are fairly accurate. Remember that the colors you will see depend greatly on the quality and calibration of your computer screen. The picture is made up of high resolution scans that have been converted in PhotoShop to a lower resolution .jpg file. The picture does not include the 27 new colors added early 2002.
This color chart is handy if you want to change colors in a chart. For example, say you want to change part of a design from red to blue. The red in the design has shadowing (red with 2 shades of darker red to create the shadow or texture). An easy way to convert to blues would be to pick all the shades of blue from the same family.
Here is the DMC color chart (about 500 Kb). To find a particular color number in the color chart you will also need the color table. The table gives the column in which you will find the color number. You can save the color chart and table to your computer by clicking on its picture with the right mouse button (Windows users).
Here is the same DMC color chart divided into smaller pieces:
The following link is a PDF file containing a chart from Yarn Tree used to determine the finished size of a design for various fabric counts. Find the stitch count of the fabric on the top line. Find the number of stitches for the design at the right. The stitched size is the intersection. Remember that this chart only gives the finished size of the design. You will need a larger piece of fabric to stitch on
Here is a link to a useful cross stitch tool, a cross stitch calculator. Enter some basic information about the pattern and the tool tells you the stitched size, and suggests fabric size, needle, and number of strands of floss.
If you are new to cross stitch, Yarn Tree provides a good introduction to the craft. The following link opens a PDF file containing instructions for doing basic counted cross stitch, along with a pattern to help you get started. The floss needed for the pattern is listed by color name instead of number (DMC, Anchor, etc.), so when buying floss, just pick shades of the colors listed that you like.
