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Needlework/Cross Stitch Charts
We've been creating and uploading small (3" x 3") needlework charts of heraldic charges that can be downloaded or printed out and which you can then work yourself for some years now. Along with each chart will be the pattern information, the floss color descriptions and numbers (though there is no obligation to follow these color recommendations slavishly. You may prefer to select different tints or colors, as indeed sometimes our own needlework artist has when working from these charts). The needlework charts beginning with this month's one (for May 2012) are in a different format than those created heretofore. I've had to upgrade some of the computer equipment, which involved a new operating system, and the old "nuts and bolts" charting program I've been using for years will not run in the new OS. So I've had to get a new "bells and whistles" program, and am currently going through the throes of trying to learn it. Parts of it I like better; other parts, not so much. I hope that you'll bear with me through the learning curve as I try to get the new program to do the relatively simple stuff that I want it to do. That being said ...
The needlework chart for May is a fess engrailed.
Our needlework chart for April wss a Bowen knot.
The needlework chart for March ws a key, taken from a German armorial dated 1555.
Our needlework chart for February was a variant of the cross crosslet, a cross bottony.
The free needlework chart for January was an old German charge, taken from the arms of Heinrich von Tettingen in the early 13th Century Manesse Codex (p. 361r), a sickle.
Our free needlework chart for December was a demi-sun.
The needlework chart for November was a well-known English charge, the emblem of a baronet, a sinister hand appaumy gules, also known as the Red Hand of Ulster.
Our free needlework chart for October was a common charge in heraldry, a lion statant, or standing.
The needlework chart for September was a cushion.
Our needlework chart for August was a mullet pierced, sometimes also called a spur rowel.
The needlework chart for July was a medieval battlefield weapon, a caltrap.
Our needlework chart for June was a 15th Century German axe.
We also sell packages that include all of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth year's charts of these charges. Or you can purchase a CD-ROM with all 96 charts of these heraldic charges in .pdf format. More information on these sets, including a list of the charges contained in them, can be found here.
Other needlework charts available for sale, and information on contacting us about creating customized needlework charts for you, can also be found on our Needlework page here.
To help maintain the maintain uniformity as well as to make printing the individual charts easier, we have saved them in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat which will allow you to open and print these charts, Adobe has a free Acrobat Reader which you can download from their website at www.adobe.com.
Questions? Comments? Compliments? Complaints? Suggestions for improvement? Or just want to share your successes (or difficulties) with our "free stuff"? Write, call, or e-mail us at the address, telephone number, or e-mail addresses here.