Counted Cross Stitch: Entertainment for Long Car Trips

If you have a one to seven year old child, enjoy your kids before they get older; but this article is about kids eight and over. Years ago, my wife and I taught our kids to make counted cross-stitch pieces. We realized that there were big rewards for our efforts when we were ready to go on a six hundred mile trip.

Entertainment for kids on long trips

The reason this particular needlecraft worked to keep kids quiet is the "counted" part of counted cross-stitch. Everyone who has ever completed a counted cross-stitch piece knows that a critical part of completing a piece of counted cross-stitch is to constantly pay attention to the particular count and floss color being used. Failure to carefully maintain your count will cause you to spend a great deal of time removing completed parts of your work and stitching the same area again. Failure to use the floss color indicated by the pattern you are using will cause your pattern to not look right. Count and floss color are very important and kids learn that very quickly. They also learn that they need to pay attention if they want to do it right. That means no diversions like talking.

Reasons for kids to cross-stitch

The pictures accompanying this article are examples of what can be done. The motorcycle was done from a pattern I acquired years ago. It was done as a present for a brother-in-law who loved Harley-Davidson cycles. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago in need of a second liver transplant that was denied. The fire station was done for my son-in-law who is a fireman. I substituted the nameplate of the fire station in the pattern for the words "Daddy's Office". The letter patterns were obtained from one of the cross-stitch pattern books of alphabets. Various family members stitched Christmas ornaments at various times. The ones pictured were made by one of my kids during one of our vacations. Kids need some practice before they attempt an ornament because they are usually done on 22-count material. This material is very tight and you have to watch very closely or you will make a mistake on your count.

What if I don't know how to cross-stitch?

The obvious answer is to learn. That is easier said than done. Years ago my wife was teaching a cross-stitch class with about twelve ladies from the community. She had to go in the hospital and I had to step in and be a temporary cross-stitch instructor. My wife had a cross-stitch shop in town and I had learned to cross-stitch so I could help her. Once the class started I learned quickly that not every one has the inherent patience and manual dexterity for cross-stitching. Without embarrassing anyone in particular, let me just say that there were two women in the class who will never conquer cross-stitching. This is not a craft for every one.

My kids (especially the boys) are not going to cross-stitch.

You must think of a way to gain the interest of those that need to learn cross-stitch. My kids took an interest in it because my wife was able to spark their interest by starting them off with a very simple, brief pattern. You have to make sure that you do not make it unnecessarily difficult for them.

Pick the pattern and material very carefully for kids trying to stitch for the first time. A small article or figure on 14-count material would work-nothing too difficult. Remember that not all cross-stitch is from a pattern. My kids did some poems and sayings laid out from an alphabet pattern book.

The first pattern you choose for kids should be very simple but something that might interest them. I think my wife chose an angel for my daughter and a pattern about baseball for the two boys. I remember that they all three learned and progressed very quickly. I always felt that the first material she chose for them was the most important ingredient to her success with getting them started. Do not expect a high quality product that will be cherished forever. There are some very tight weaves (22-27 count per inch) and some weaves that are more open and easier for kids to work with (11-18 count per inch). I believe she started them on 11 or 14 count material. It helps to get a good hoop that will keep the material taut so it is easy to pass the needle through the weave. If stitching is too difficult they will just give up and walk away.

Should I show off the kid's handiwork?

Not if you want them to ever stitch again! Keeping it as a little family secret will not embarrass the boys and is perfect for long trips. Let them progress and become proud of their efforts but let them publicize it when they are ready. The boys are going to be slow to show their results to others especially if they were like my boys - involved in hunting and sports. The pictures accompanying this article were chosen as examples of patterns they may want to do for others as presents. A handmade present from a son, daughter, grandson or granddaughter can be one of the nicest presents you ever receive.

Is this easy for kids to do in the car?

First of all remember that sharp needles are involved. That means that all the kids are going to need to keep all their materials (pattern, material, hoop, needle, scissors and thread) separate in their own bag or container. Once the ground rules were established and they learned to not interfere with their brother's or sister's work-in-progress, our trips seemed to go very well. If I remember correctly I believe the kids told me that the trip seemed shorter because they slept and cross-stitched all the way!