Celtic Yuletide Robin Cross Stitch Pattern

About this robin cross stitch pattern

The robin fills almost the whole design: large dark eyes, a short gray beak and a soft peach breast fading into gray feathers. On its head sits a crown of holly leaves, white mistletoe berries, pine sprigs and twisted Celtic-knot vines in sage and cream. The feather shading is fine and painterly, more like a portrait than a holiday motif.

It’s a Christmas centerpiece with a folk-art feel that can stay up all winter. For a Celtic-themed set, pair it with The Wee Celtic Druid or Rowan the Celtic Explorer Fox. It features in our winter cross stitch patterns and large cross stitch patterns round-ups.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 21“ x 22“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 23 DMC colors, about 31 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 3866 Mocha – Ultra Very Light (4,011 stitches), 967 Apricot – Very Light (3,998), 754 Peach – Light (3,369) and 3371 Black Brown (3,277).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Advanced for its size and its shading. At 29,338 stitches it’s a long project, roughly 290 to 490 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour, and three pale, closely related tones (3866, 967 and 754) cover 11,378 stitches across the face and breast. Telling them apart takes good light and attention.

Read our guide to planning a large cross stitch project before you buy fabric and thread.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Bag the three pale tones separately. 3866 Mocha – Ultra Very Light, 967 Apricot – Very Light and 754 Peach – Light look almost the same on the skein. Keep each in its own labeled bag and away from your working pile, because a loose unlabeled thread is easy to misidentify.
• Stitch in daylight or under a daylight lamp. Warm evening light makes those pale tones even harder to separate, and on a chart this size a mistake can run for rows before you notice it.
• Start months ahead if it’s for Christmas. At 60 to 100 stitches an hour, its 29,338 stitches take about 290 to 490 hours, so count back from the date you want it framed.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 14.8“ x 15.9“ (37.6 x 40.4 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 12.9“ x 13.9“, and on 18-count at 11.5“ x 12.3“. For the 14-count version, an 18“ x 24“ frame leaves room for a mat.

A dark wood or deep green frame picks up the holly and the robin’s eyes, and suits a mantel display. Our framing guide covers the options.

What’s in the free PDF

• A cover page and a one-page overview with a preview of the design
• The chart, split across as many printable pages as you choose, in color or black and white, with a symbol for every DMC color, center lines, a mini-map showing which part of the design each page covers and a color key on every page
• The thread list: DMC number, color name, number of stitches and skeins to buy for each color
• The finished size on 11-, 14-, 16-, 18- and 28-count Aida