Olympic Inspired Cross-Stitches

I've learned how to do cross stitch from my grandmother when I was 6 years old and I've done a bunch of cross stitch works so far.

It seemed weird to me that I haven't posted any cross stitch ibles yet. I've been looking for inspirations to get started with cross stitch again and finally the Olympic winter games has done it!

At first I was going to cross stitch the Olympic rings but then came up with the idea of cross stitching the wreath, gold medal and the torch.

Anyways, I was really excited to post this ible and really hope you like it :)

Step 1: Materials Needed

For cross stitching these wall arts you'll need:

1. Cross-stitching fabric,
2. Tapestry needle,
3. Threads- blue, green, red, yellow, black, scarlet, orange, golden.
4. Scissor,
5. Pattern or design.

Step 2: Selecting Materials

I'm not anything even near to a cross stitching expert but for all the beginners I'd like to share some basic stuffs about selecting the materials for cross stitching such as- fabric, thread and needle.

Fabric: If you are a beginner in cross stitching then aida fabric would be the best, though there are other kinds of cross stitching fabrics. Aida fabric is different than the other fabrics as the holes between fabric threads are easily visible and the number of holes in per inch is known as count in cross stitching. The fabric I used is 14 count and evenweave. For cross stitching some prefer to count the holes while some count the number of fabric threads, it works both ways.

Thread: Most people use floss for cross stitching but I also use yarn and crochet threads. I use a single strand of yarn and double strand of crochet thread for cross stitching.

Needle: The needle used for cross stitching is known as tapestry needle. This needle is relatively bigger than the usual sewing needles and has a blunt end so that it wouldn't ruin the fabric and easily pass through the holes.

Embroidery hoop: Most people use embroidery hoop for cross stitching but I find it a bit difficult so I don't use embroidery hoop. But you can use embroidery hoop for cross stitching if you find it helpful.

There, that's pretty much it. Collect all the materials and get started :)

Step 3: How to Cross-Stitch

The patterns I used include simple cross stitches, you can make them easily.

You can find a lot of help, tutorials,guides about cross stitching from the internet...
but here's how I do my cross stitching-

•  First you'll have to select a design, if you're a beginner start with a simple and easy pattern for cross stitching.
• Count the number of stitches on the pattern and cut out the fabric by keeping 10-12 extra counts on all sides.
• Select a starting point on the fabric (it's always better to start from the center of any design) and draw the needle (along with the thread) from the bottom of the fabric pulling it upwards.
• Keep an inch extra on the other (wrong) side and hold the extra thread with one hand (or finger) while doing the first cross stitch (see the picture of this step). You can let go the extra thread after the first cross stitch is done.
• Now, you can either count the holes or the fabric threads for cross stitching, I usually count the fabric threads. But to make it easier to understand I've tried to explain both ways. 
• Counting holes: Notice that in the 2nd,3rd and 4th picture of this step I've marked 4 circles with 4 different colors- yellow, red, blue and green, consider these circles as holes (counts) of the fabric. Draw the needle through the yellow circle from the bottom side of the fabric and insert it through the green circle (diagonally) and pull it through the blue circle, you've made a half stitch. Now insert the needle diagonally through the red circle and pull it out through the green circle to complete a cross stitch. Notice that there's 1 hole left unstitched between every 2 circles. I did 2 counts for every cross stitched patterns in this ible, you can choose a different count if you want to.
• Counting fabric thread: Notice that between every 2 circles there are 2 fabric threads. I usually count the fabric threads while cross stitching.

For more details you can take help from this website-  https://www.thecrossstitchguild.com/Cross_Stitch_Basics/Stitch_Basics.aspx
The guidelines are quite easy to understand and follow.

Have all the cross stitching stuffs ready? great! lets start.

Step 4: The Olympic Gold Medal

Lets start with the medal. It's the easiest one.

Consider each colored square box as a cross stitch ('X') in the templates.

Like I've said before, for cross stitching it's better to start from the center of any design.
First I cross stitched the number '1' using 2 strands of golden crochet thread. Started from the top, cross stitched the half of the straight part, completed the bottom and again cross stitched my way up to complete the second half of the straight part.
Then I cross stitched the medal using 1 strand of yellow yarn, around the number '1'. 
After that did the borders and the ribbons.
For the ribbons I started the cross stitch from the top of the medal (where the ribbon joins the medal), didi half stitches all the way up ans came back down doing cross stitches (see 4th picture of this step).

For all kinds of cross stitch patterns you'll have to figure out an easy way and this is how I cross stitched the medal but you can choose the one that seems easier to you. 

Step 5: The Olympic Wreath

I started from the bottom of the wreath pattern.

First I cross stitched the dark green patterns (except for the dark green parts on the leaves),
After cross stitching half of the dark green pattern of the wreath I removed the dark green thread from the needle but didn't cut it off.
Then I cross stitched the leaves using light green thread.
After completing the leaves I used the previous dark green thraed to complete the dark green parts of the leaves. 

I cross stitched the second half of the wreath similarly.

Step 6: The Olympic Torch

I started from the center of the torch handle using scarlet thread, then cross stitched the rest of the handle using black thread.

For cross stitching the fire I started from the bottom of the fire using red thread and then orange thread and lastly yellow thread.

This pattern was quite tricky but fun!

Step 7: The Olympic Rings

Cross stitching the Olympic rings was so much fun and pretty easy.

I didn't start from the center of the pattern this time, I started cross stitching from the side.
First I cross stitched the blue ring, then the yellow ring followed by the black, green and red ring.

Cross stitching the letters were super easy, I'm sure you can do it even if you're a beginner.

There, All 4 Olympic inspired cross stitch designs are done. You can frame them and use them as wall arts or use them as coasters. I hope you have fun doing these cross stitches and please share a picture in the comments below if you do so :D

Enjoy!