Usually cross stitch charts that require lots of colour changes can be slow work, but this weekend I discovered how to speed up my stitching! Here's how to get more enjoyment out of stitching up a rainbow...

I first read about 'parking' threads using  in an old issue of Cross Stitcher magazine. It seemed a bit over-complicated to me at the time so I never tried it, but this weekend I've seen the light! I can seriously recommend this simple technique for speedier stitching.

How to: speed up colour changes

The solution to swifter stitching is 'parking' your threads. It's really simple but a great way to keep your place and an especially handy little trick if, like me, you often stitch in front of the telly (so find it hard to concentrate on counting out the spaces between stitches on your chart).

Traditionally when cross stitching charts with many colours, we often stitch one colour at a time - starting with the lightest colours then building up the picture's depth with darker shades. The plus side of this is you see the whole picture grow gradually before your eyes. The down side is it can be hard to count across the chart to find the next place where a colour crops up.

With parking, you simply thread up several needles with several colours from the chart - then stitch up one area at a time, quickly moving between the different coloured thread. THis means you don't have to keep stopping and re-threading your needle each time. While you're stitching one colour, keep your unused, threaded needles pinned to one corner of your fabric, then once finished with that colour, simply park up your thread and pick up the next colour.

Mostly making: thank you cards

I found parking especially handy this weekend as I've started stitching up a batch of last-minute thank you cards (see above - my work in progress).

I need to get about 6 cards stitched up before the month is out, so I've selected a simple circular thank you greeting, surrounded by a ring of flowers (found the pattern in an old chart book that I dusted down from my craft bookshelf -  Sharon Welch's cross-stitch-cards). I've built up quite a stash of fabric & threads at home now so am turning to my chart books more and more and becoming less reliant on pre-packaged kits.

I'll of course post up the finished results on the blog once finished! But this project shows off one thing I really love about making things - that even if you've been crafting for years, you can still pick up new tips'n'tricks along the way.

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