The Penguin Proposal Cross Stitch Pattern

About this penguin couple cross stitch pattern

One penguin leans forward holding out a tiny wrapped gift; the other clasps its flippers together with its eyes closed and pink cheeks. Hearts drift in the air between and around them. Penguins really do court with gifts, like the stone a gentoo offers its mate, and the design turns that into a small, wordless story.

It makes a lovely engagement, wedding or anniversary gift, and it works for Valentine’s Day without leaning on red: the palette is grays, whites and soft pink. More than half the fabric stays bare, which leaves room to add names or a date underneath. For the same bird in a much sillier mood, see the Penguin in a Hawaiian Shirt. It is one of our winter cross stitch patterns, picked for Valentine’s Day. It also leads our Valentine and love patterns. For more couples, see our free wedding cross stitch patterns, such as the Bride and Groom Swans.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 20“ x 17“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 14 DMC colors, about 15 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 924 Gray Green – Very Dark (2,536 stitches), 168 Pewter – Very Light (1,839), B5200 Snow White (1,798) and 318 Steel Gray – Light (1,385).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. The shapes are large and rounded, with soft shading across the bellies rather than hard detail, so it’s steady rather than fiddly. At 11,732 stitches, expect roughly 120 to 195 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Do the gift in one sitting. The box and its bow are made of 612, 739 and 09, with 126 stitches between them in a tiny area, and it’s the detail people look at first. Work it with the chart enlarged.
• Save the pink cheeks for last. They’re only 30 stitches of 761 Salmon – Light; added at the end, they stay crisp.
• Plan any lettering before you start. If you want names or a date below the ice, sketch them on graph paper and leave at least 10 rows of space under the design; it’s much easier than squeezing text in afterward.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 13.1“ x 10.4“ (33.3 x 26.4 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 11.5“ x 9.1“, and on 18-count at 10.2“ x 8.1“. For the 14-count version, a 14“ x 18“ frame hung landscape leaves room for a mat.

As a wedding or anniversary gift, a white frame with a soft pink mat suits the palette; our framing guide covers finishing it as a gift.

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