After spending a lot of time in June working on Emma’s Christmas stocking as part of my 30 days of creativity, I’ve continued to make slow but steady progress. Will it be done by Christmas? I really don’t know. I knew this would take a lot of time to complete, but it has proven to be even more of an undertaking than I expected.
Seriously — this thing is no joke! I’ve done plenty of cross stitch projects dating all the way back to childhood, but this is by far the biggest one I’ve tackled. There are so many colors, and so many sections where there are only 2 or 3 stitches of any given shade. I’m constantly starting and ending a thread, which makes for pretty slow going sometimes. I can work for an hour yet only finish a small section.
This is what the finished product should look like…
…and this is the current “state of the stocking.”
All 3 snowmen are finally 100% complete, which is awesome! But there is still so much to do. Finish the lantern and the sky. Finish the trees and snow field below. Finish the block of red at the top. And outline everything with some backstitching, like I began to do on the third snowman.
(I don’t like it that little bit of backstitching — I think the black lines are too thick. The pattern recommended using 2 strands of floss, but I plan to take that part out and redo the outlining with only 1 strand.)
I know I’m going to love this when it’s finished, but geez. It is a beast.
You’ve made a lot of progress so far! I used to cross-stitch a lot in high school, but don’t have the patience for it anymore. I need projects where I can see results in less time. I have a beautiful castle that I spent hours and hours on over a decade ago. I should just frame it mostly done. I can’t see myself going back to it. I also have a stocking kit I bought when my oldest was born… I wonder where that even is!
I agree — I like things where I can see quicker results. I know I’ll be really proud of this when I finish, but it feels like a slog right now. I’m totally going to feel obligated to do a cross-stitch stocking for any subsequent kids….maybe I can find a much simpler one next time!!
I actually like the outlining on the snowman. Maybe it’s because it’s only a picture, but it doesn’t seem too thick.
It is beautiful and will be kept for all of Emma’s life, so worry about how long it takes! I had a lot of help from Grandmother on our 4!!!
I meant to say “NO worry” but can’t figure out how to edit my comment 🙂
It is beautiful! Maybe you could skip the snowfield?
This looks about like knitting an Aran sweater. With those, I tend to only finish them when I decide I’m going to get it done come hell or high water and spend two hours a day on it for a few weeks.
Looks awesome! This is going to be the cutest stocking ever. 🙂