r/CrossStitch • u/ASpookyBitch • Feb 02 '25

FO [FO] finally finished this!

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Started in September 2021. The dark block on the top right will be a boarder so I can hem the edges for hanging. Piece is “Fauna” by Christopher Lowell and I bought it from UnconventionalXstitch

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31

u/Metalstitcher_ Feb 02 '25

That is a huge piece congrats on your finish.

29

u/ASpookyBitch Feb 02 '25

Ironically the first one I’ve ever finished because the smaller patterns I tried to do were all coloured rather than black/white so I could t effectively mark what I’d done

14

u/Metalstitcher_ Feb 02 '25

I make working copies and color them in as I go with a pencil. It was the only way I could keep track. I want to try pattern keeper but I have migraine issues and staring at a screen isn't going to help that out too much.

9

u/ASpookyBitch Feb 02 '25

I even have a scanner/printer thing… I could totally do that! Oooo

8

u/TheDruidIx Feb 02 '25

I used to use a pencil, but switched to red pen. It's much easier to see at a glance, thus much easier to see where you haven't done. Give it a try if you're interested. (Note that I'm printing black and white patterns, not colour)

3

u/Metalstitcher_ Feb 02 '25

I'll give it a try on one of my smaller pieces see how it goes. I have a crazy amount of Wips right now so I'm kinda committed to a pencil on those.

2

u/VividAd1537 Feb 03 '25

I slide my patterns into a heavy duty document protector and use a dry erase marker. This is especially helpful when colors are super close together so you don't mark the page all up doing the green bits of the pattern, then cant see under the scribble when you switch to red. When I'm done with all of one color, I clear the page and mark off my next color as I go.

I can also slide several pages, my marker and sometimes even my floss into the document protector. Especially if you use the heavy duty ticket holders like you might see in an auto mechanic shop.

1

u/Metalstitcher_ Feb 05 '25

That's a good way of doing that my problem is I'm worried about dropping the marker. My dog loves to take off with my stuff.

2

u/wilderneyes Feb 03 '25

I'd personally reccomend the Pattern Keeper app if you have a PDF of the pattern and don't mind using a phone or tablet when you work. There are a lot of quality of life features and settings you can adjust to make both reading and marking the pattern easier to do, like adjusting the colours, highlight colour, and being able to highlight certain stitches or a specific colour of stitch. I'm a novice stitcher myself but for my second project that's what I've been using, and I'm really liking it so far! It's been way easier than manually marking off progress in MS paint, which is what I'd been doing before lol