OWL CROSS STITCH

[badly_knitted]

Started stitching these a couple of years ago and finally finished them, with a whole bunch of other projects in between.

 

Comments

[wickedlittletown]

Lovely

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[smallhobbit]

Oh, those are just lovely! Well done on finishing them!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! I had the second to last one, the long-eared owl from the bottom picture, already started and it was a nightmare trying to figure out which bits I'd already stitched. Too many similar colours. Worth the effort in the end though.

[cornerofmadness]

these are wonderful. I especially love the night sky ones (a given with me) So glad you shared these

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! The night skies were the worst part to do because of stupid fractional stitches to shape the moons. I try to avoid fractional stitches because my brain has trouble translating them from the chart to the fabric, but I forced myself for these. My favourites are the two owl heads, they're so expressive for such small designs.

[cornerofmadness]

Oh I can believe the night stuff is hard. Those owl heads are very expressive. Also if you like doing fan related cross stitch I have a friend who does patterns for that on Etsy

[badly_knitted]

Considering how small the designs are, I'm amazed at the detail.

I already have about a thousand designs and kits I want to stitch, so many cross stitch magazines, but thanks anyway. Mostly I'm stitching to make birthday cards for family and friends as small designs suit me best. The big ones are proving too daunting.

[cornerofmadness]

No problem. I know too well how it is to be overwhelmed with projects

[badly_knitted]

It's kinda nice too though, because there's always something to do. Better than sitting around bored.

[cornerofmadness]

that's also true

[meridian_rose]

These are all so good, thanks for the link! They're so expressive!
I love the blue sky behind some of these, the owl in flight with stars really stands out.
Impressive work :D

[sanguinity]

Oh, what a great collection! What lovely character they have!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! Some of them look a bit angry, or even evil, but I like how they turned out. The two owl heads are my favourites.

[ilyena_sylph]

So Many Owls!!!

I love them all!

Owls are my wife's favorite creature, can you point me in the direction of the patterns, please?

[badly_knitted]

I adore owls, and these are the most realistic small designs I've come across, but I'm not sure whether you'll be able to get the charts somewhere.

They're in a British cross stitch magazine, Quick and Easy issue 130, September 2005. Might be worth looking on ebay.

[grey853]

Cool work.

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! They turned out okay, despite battling fractional stitches on the moons.

[grey853]

Fractional or specialty stitches can be a challenge. I'm glad it worked out.

[badly_knitted]

I hate fractionals with a vengeance, my brain struggles to translate them from the chart onto the aida, so I usually avoid them, but I persevered here because they were only on the moons. Even so, I'm sure I missed some quarter stitches, and I had to undo bits a few times when I got the stitch the wrong way around.

[grey853]

If I'm doing a project with half or quarter stitches, I stick to linen. It's just easier for me.

[badly_knitted]

Too many holes for me, I still consider myself a novice. I did start a design on evenweave once, but I kept forgetting to miss a hole. Maybe one day I'll try to finish it. I think it's still tucked inside the book the chart was in..

[grey853]

Linen definitely takes practice but once you get used to it, it's actually easier than aida for me. I have to use a hoop though or the tension is off and can hurt the look out the finished product.

[badly_knitted]

That's the beauty of aida for small pieces, it's usually stiff enough I don't need a hoop. I've done a few larger projects on a small frame, but these days I'm mostly stitching for cards. I have tons of magazines and so many designs I'm itching to stitch. Told myself I could keep out 10 magazines with designs to stitch, ended up with a pile of almost 60. I've cut so much aida, but now I can just move from one project to the next without too much delay.

[grey853]

Well, that's one way to do it

I tend to be a monogamous stitcher. I do one project at a time until it's done.

[badly_knitted]

So do I, but I have at least 50 projects ready to go *grins* The current one is a set of 4 designs I'm stitching on 20 hpi aida. No backstitch, just whole cross stitch, and no gaps in the stitching, so each one will be around 4900 stitches. Wonder how long that's going to take me...

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

So many different owls! :D I recognize snowy, barn, and great horned owls.

Re: Wow!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! They're only small designs, but they're the best realistic owl designs I've found.

There's at least one tawny, but I have no idea what some of them are. The magazine didn't say.

Re: Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I love realistic fibercrafts. Last historic event I attended, there was a lady who had embroidered sheep entirely with French knots. O.O She didn't have any pieces in my colors and price range, but any time I see her I will check again.

Re: Wow!

[badly_knitted]

That is insane! I struggle with just doing a couple of French knots here and there.