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Needlework/Cross Stitch Charts
Several years ago, we started 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. 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).
Our needlework chart for August is a very old heraldic charge, the annulet.
The needlework chart for July was a weapon often as dangerous to the user as anyone else, a grenade.
Our free needlework chart for June was a Maltese cross.
The needlework chart for May was a Tau cross (also known as a Cross of St. Anthony).
Our free needlework chart for April was a medieval form of a padlock, called a fetterlock.
The free needlework chart for March was a swan rousant.
Our free needlework chart for February was a Cross of Canterbury.
The needlework chart for the first month of 2008 was a glove, taken from Freiherr von Scheibler's Wappenbuch, dated to 1450.
Our free needlework charge for December was a strawberry plant found in Vigil Rabers Neustifter Wappenbuch, dated to 1548.
The needlework chart for November was triple-towered castle from a German heraldry booklet dated 1555.
Our needlework chart for October was a mullet of six points.
The free needlework chart for September was a ram's head, in the posture called "cabossed" or "caboshed" (face on, with no neck showing).
We also sell packages that include all of our first year's, second year's, third year's, or fourth year's charts of these charges. Or you can purchase a CD-ROM with all 48 months of these charts of 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 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.
Don't have and don't want the Acrobat Reader? E-mail us at the addresses here and we'll send you a .jpg that you can print out. (You may need to tell your printer to "fit to page" or something similar, depending upon your graphics program.)
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.