I have recently completed the latest cross-stitch I’ve been working on, a pattern published in 2000 by one of my favorite designers, Nora Corbett of Mirabilia Designs, whose designs are always oh-so eye catching. This one is called Scent of Old Roses, and yes, the title was definitely one of the reasons I just couldn’t resist it. Though another reason was the somewhat understated website photo, which, as you will see, doesn’t quite capture the quite glittery effect of the final project.

Choosing a cross-stitch to work on is always somewhat of a funny thing for me. I really enjoy the act of working on a cross-stitch, using my hands, indulging in the application of pure, rich color to an item that feels as lovely as it looks, and also engaging my puzzle-solving brain, which was trained long ago to find the shortest stitching path possible so as not to run out of thread!

But, a nice, small pattern will almost never do. As much as I might admire so many lovely, little designs, I just never seem to find myself picking them up and working on them. For example, here is a lovely designer I found on Etsy just now, whose designs I am 99% sure I am doomed only to admire from afar. (And this moth-and-moon-and-lily-of-the-valley design especially calls to me, being on a little bit of a lily-of-the-valley kick of late – sigh.) But no, this carousel horse by Teresa Wentzler was the first cross-stitch I actually ever finished…gorgeous; not exactly a small project.

Which brings me to the other side of things. That carousel horse really is gorgeous. Looking at the picture I can still feel why I picked it. But once it was done I didn’t know what to do with it. It doesn’t match my house. The poor thing sat in a drawer for over a decade! A few years ago I finally found someone willing to take it and was so relieved. So, I have to be a little careful. If I’m going to spend dozens (hundreds?) of hours on a project, I should have at least some sort of plan of what to do with it when I’m done. I can’t just pick something gorgeous (I’m looking at you, sumptuous-bowl-of-raspberries cross-stitch).

Of course, it’s possible that the Mirabilia Designs cross-stitches match my house a little too well – I want to have and complete so many of them… But whether I manage two more or twenty, that is in the future. For now, here are a couple more shots of Scent of Old Roses:

Cross-stitch faces are always so tricky. I love how this one is so quiet, despite being absolutely surrounded by glitter. I will note that I fudged several of the bead colors – but it’s hard to justify buying new beads when you’ve already got a three-box bead stash.

Here. You can see the beads better if I take the photo from an angle.

The final effect really is quite nice, but when I get to the beading part I’m always “gah! so many beads!” Partly that’s because I only have the circular hoops and so have to strategize which sections of beading I can use a hoop for and which I have to stitch really carefully hoop-less. I actually got most of these with the hoop, which was a pleasant surprise. (Can I manage with the hoop? and Will I have enough of this color before this thread runs out? are two of the really edge-of-your-seat questions one asks oneself while cross-stitching. Quite suspenseful!)

And one more close-up, now of some of those roses:

In some ways, cross-stitch design seems like some sort of sleight-of-hand maneuver, suggesting depth and detail with…pixels.

That close-up also features that super-yummy blue-purple used on the gown, which is linked (for me) to another nifty aspect of working on cross-stitches. I really love that color, but there was a lot of it. I usually (mostly) start a new cross-stitch with the most voluminous colors, for a couple reasons. Namely that it helps establish my counting strategy early on, and also I keep momentum on the project better if the later colors don’t take me as long. (Yes, I know some people work on multiple colors at a time, changing one to the next when it seems appropriate, but…no.)

Anyway, that gorgeous purple took me a really long time, long enough that I have specific place-memories associated with it. I stitched a lot of it during my vacation last summer, and so that color means sitting in the swing-chair outside with my husband, listening to a fun, silly audio book about a D&D-style adventure story. It’s a nice memory to bind into the piece, which won’t be retained forever, but will never-the-less be there for me when I look at this for a good long while. A happy memory I can hold in my hands.