Lark Crafts

This week, Lark welcomes guest blogger Denise Felton, Needlework Editor at CraftGossip.com. Denise has pulled together a fabulous resource list for free holiday cross-stitch patterns… just in time for that long car, train, or plane ride. Take it away, Denise!

The holidays are just around the corner and suddenly you must come up with an extra teacher gift, one more stocking stuffer for your mother-in-law, or an ornament for an unforeseen office swap. And you’re out of cash. You could hide in a closet and wait for the holidays to pass. Or you could find an unmaxed credit card and slog around to the malls. Or you could grab some fabric and threads from your stash and a great free design from the Internet and whip up a gift with no anxiety, no driving, and no new investment.

Stitchers love to design their own patterns and they love to share. Designs are available free for your personal use (not for sale or publication) from famous-designer sites to grandma blogs. You just have to know where to look.

Here are some of my favorite sources for free patterns and charts this year:

About.com Cross-Stitch Connie G. Barwick, editor of this USA-based About.com subsite, posts cross-stitch news and ideas and also shares her original cross-stitch designs. At her home page, click the Holiday Cross Stitch Charts tab to go to a pageful of links to free designs for lots of holidays, including Christmas and Hannukah.

Blog di Gloria This Italian blog covers a whole range of crafts that interest the author. Luckily for us, her interests include cross-stitch. Scroll through Gloria’s blog to find a variety of Christmas-themed charts, including a beautiful seasonal alphabet – perfect for personalizing a gift.

Les grilles de Thiarlou A French blogger shares her quick-and-easy original cross-stitch charts, including an advent-calendar series of Christmas baubles.

Kincavel Krosses Irish designer Kell Smurthwaite specializes in blackwork and slightly subversive cross-stitch. Scroll through her blog to find charts to suit your fancy — from traditional to silly.

Cachounette French designer Cachounette has been posting collections of small holiday motifs. These designs are perfect for a quick gift.

Le blog de Les broderies de vayou This French blogger often produces complex cross-stitch charts from photographs. Her Christmas series this year is bold, simple, and graphic – far different from her detailed floral bouquets but just as wonderful. She offers lots of charts for you to choose from.

In addition to these prolific cross-stitch designers, the Internet is swarming with stitchers who post just one design a week or month. How can you locate those wonderful but obscure posts? Come visit Needlework News at CraftGossip. I watch hundreds of blogs for news, tips, tutorials, and freebies, and I share what I find with you. Round-ups of free patterns and charts are a weekly routine. And if you’re new to our blog network, you can search our archives for hundreds – maybe thousands – of links to free designs.