Misako

The most ambitious cross stitch design I've completed to date, (dragon aside.)
A beautiful design from Maia, part of a set of kits inspired by traditional Japanese art with a contemporary twist. I love the Art Nouveau addition to the traditional oriental elegance.

The intricate background was a challenge for me, lots of careful counting was needed as well as a great deal of patience.
I find shading in the squares of stitches I've already completed on the pattern sheet is very helpful to remember where you are, so when you pick the pattern back up after a while, you know what you've done and how much you need to complete.
However, I may have to find a new method for when I start following some patterns from my embroidery books as the idea of drawing in any book makes me distinctly uncomfortable.

There wasn't a great deal of backstitch to do with this design, which meant once I finished the cross stitches, it didn't take long to finish the rest.
She took me quite some time to finish overall, especially as I tend to stitch on and off in general, sometimes spending weeks stitching regularly and sometimes letting projects sit in a cupboard for a few months.

I'm very happy with her though and hope to get her professionally framed at some point to best preserve all my hard work.