Linen Cross Stitch

I love embroidery and have so from a young age. When I was about 8 or 9 I embroidered a hand towel for the first time. It was a printed design, and because I was too lazy to separate my threads, the finished product was quite horrendous! When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my mother taught me counter-cross stitch and I loved it! I loved that you didn't need to have the printed design underneath which gave for a much nicer finished product. Ever since then I have been cross stitching on towels, bibs, cards and even samplers for framing. I have always cross stitched on aida cloth which has little squares nicely marked in the weave to help you count. Well, my husband's aunt who is quite skilled in cross stitch embroidery stitches only on linen. She's been trying to get me to 'convert' for the passed few years but I have been quite reluctant.

For my birthday, my husband gave me a beautiful embroidery box with an area to put an embroidered design in the cover. The linen cloth and thread were even included in the box to add this personal and finished touch to the embroidery box. So, with this gift and after seeing my aunt over the holidays, I was finally motivated and ready to give linen a try! And I agree that the finished product is even prettier and more refined that the aida cloth, but I admitt that it is quite a challenge to do! It is great for small motifs, but I think I still need some practice before I attempt to do a large design or sampler on linen!