Witch Cat on a Broomstick Cross Stitch Pattern

About this witch cat cross stitch pattern

The kitten sits astride a broom mid-flight, big shiny eyes wide, hugging a bundle of parchment with a purple seal. Its lopsided purple hat and the tan papers are the only bright spots in a body built almost entirely from near-black shading, and a soft shadow on the ground shows it’s airborne.

A black cat on a broomstick is classic Halloween, but the oversized eyes and gentle grin keep it on the cute side, so it suits a front window, a child’s room or a gift for a cat owner who loves October. It makes a witch-cat set with the Black Kitten with Jack-o’-Lanterns; our cat round-up has more cats.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 18“ x 19“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 16 DMC colors, about 18 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 924 Gray Green – Very Dark (3,967 stitches), 310 Black (2,533) and 413 Pewter Gray – Dark (2,071).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. 924 Gray Green – Very Dark and black cover 6,500 of the 12,912 stitches and form almost the whole cat. Both read as near-black at a glance, and keeping them in their own zones is what gives the fur its shape instead of a flat silhouette.

Expect roughly 130 to 215 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Stitch in strong, steady light. With two very dark, related colors making up most of the design, it’s easy to lose track of which one you’re on in a dim room.
• Label the two darks clearly. Keep 924 and 310 on opposite ends of your floss card, and check the symbol each time you rethread.
• Do the purples together. The hat, the seal and the broom ties use 552, 550, 553, 554 and 327 in small amounts; stitch them in one session so the shades stay consistent.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 11.3“ x 12.9“ (28.7 x 32.8 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 9.9“ x 11.2“, and on 18-count at 8.8“ x 10.0“. For the 14-count version, a 14“ x 18“ frame leaves room for a mat.

More than half the fabric stays bare, so a purple or orange mat frames the flying kitten nicely for October.

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