Cross Stitch Help, please!

[Larklinnet]

I'm pretty much a novice cross stitcher, and have usually done projects with large blocks of the same color at a time. But now I want to start a design that requires color changes every couple of stitches. What is the best way to accomplish this? Should I do stitches in one color across a certain amount of each row, and then do subsequent rows with that color, then go back and fill in each other color in the same way, or do I stop and start every few stitches to change colors? I am really puzzled whenever I look at a chart that has lots of different colors in the same row, and none of the instructions I've seen shed any light on this. I'd appreciate any suggestions you have. Thanks!

[meisterfrau]

I've heard different people take different approaches to this. I've often read you're supposed to start at the center of the design and work outward, and never really got how that was supposed to work with frequent color changes. I never work this way myself. Personally, I screw up and miscount really easily if there are a lot of color changes. Actually, even if there aren't. Even before I had a toddler interrupting me, I was easily distracted and would mess up a lot! I find the most success basting a grid onto my fabric first, so that I am dealing with little 10x10 blocks instead of a whole big picture. Good luck.

[Larklinnet]

Thank you, Crysta! I like the idea of breaking my design into smaller sections to work it. And I understand exactly what it is like to have a small child getting in the way of the work. My ds is now six, and I still can't be guaranteed interruption-free time, but at least when I cross stitch I am more relaxed about it!

[Thalia the Muse]

I love big projects with lots of color changes, and I do start in the middle and work out. What helps me keep track is that I make a photocopy of the chart to work from, and I mark it off in highlighter as I complete a section of stitching.

[Hatteras Gal]

I HATE big projects with lots of color change and avoid them at all costs. That said, I'm working on one right now.
I start in the middle. With this one, because the chart is so big, I worked up and then down along the middle crease of the chart, and then to the left and right, and then I cut the chart. I have a magnet board that I have my section of graph on with straight magnets to mark the row I'm in. I work in 10x10 blocks and highlight when I've finished a color in that block. Then I move on to the next block. It's a big PITA. But I magnet off the 10x10 blocks on the chart, so that block is all I see while I'm working on it, I don't do anything to the fabric. I have had this pattern for 6 years and I have vowed it will be the last large project ever.

[Robbins0614]

I work in sections, but not grids. For example, right now the project has a lot of animals in it and I started in the middle and am working one animal at a time. Although, I do occasionally get bored with a particular color if I've been working on it for a while and change to something else just for the change. I'm not very patient! But I just do whatever makes sense for the project I am working at the moment.

[ktlady]

Originally Posted by Thalia the Muse

I love big projects with lots of color changes, and I do start in the middle and work out. What helps me keep track is that I make a photocopy of the chart to work from, and I mark it off in highlighter as I complete a section of stitching.

ITA - highlighting is the best way to go.

[serenetabbie]

ITA too I use a highlighter also. I work from the middle out, and like Robbins I just do whatever I want other than that

[Angelorum]

Wow, I never thought of highlighting, or dividing up in grids. I never understood the logic of starting in the middle. I just count from the center of my canvas to the top of the picture. For whichever area I'm working, I choose the color that appears most frequently, or one that has an easy pattern to see and start with that. I just fill in other colors as I go. No real strategy, just fun. I will say the back of my work on large projects tends to look pretty gnarly. But I am careful about have threads cross behind open areas where it might show through on the front.

[Larklinnet]

Thank you all so much for the replies! I never thought of highlighting or working in blocks - love the magnet idea! I got kind of discouraged and decided to work on a small Christmas ornament that seemed manageable, but when that is done I will go back to my many-colored project (it's a tree with a branch that overhangs the words "Family is a Sheltering Tree") and try again with these ideas in mind. I appreciate all the help!

[BurgundyElephant]

If you work in 10x10 blocks you run the risk of having your finished piece look "griddy". I personally highlight the stitches I'm going to do with a yellow highlighter, then the stitched as they're finished with pink. It turns a beautiful shade of orange. I've stitched a few Teresa Wentzler's this way.

I will jump a few stitches with the same piece of thread, my personal rule is about 5 squares. Floss is thin and provided you aren't using knots on the back it doesn't get too bulky. The extra floss will make the piece last longer, too. Just make sure you have good tension so that the thread isn't pulled too tight, thus making the piece bulge on the front.

The Pako Needle Organizer helps keep your floss organized so you don't have to rethread the same colors again and again.

You can grid your fabric. Use a thread that won't bleed or leave fluffies (like Sulky metallic). Do a long running stitch every ten blocks, matching up with the ten blocks on your pattern. You can then jump around.

Just some quick tips!

[Larklinnet]

Thank you so much for all the helpful tips, BurgundyElephant! I found one of those organizers on eBay for only $13 plus shipping, and ordered it (it's nice to have a PayPal balance to use up in times like these!) It looks like the perfect device to get me organized instead of having needles and threads all over.

All of you have been so great in assisting this newbie. I've been using the magnet board Rubyred suggested and it has really made a difference. Thanks to everyone!