Unpicking hours worth of cross stitch :(

[foxtrottango]

I started a big new project the other day. It is on quite high count fabric so the stitches look beautiful and neat. I was making good progress and was pleased to myself. Came to the end of a section the other day after quite a few hours of hard work to find Id read the chart wrong and had cross stitched where I was meant to half stitch!!! I had been looking at the picture of the design but the stitches are so small I couldnt tell the difference between the full and half stitches. Could have continued and completed the area in full stitch but that would have had implications for the rest of the large design and would have meant getitng lots more thread!!

I know I have to unpick but it is breaking my heart to do it :(. Its worse that I have to save the thread so Im having to do it neatly so cant even just hack it away :)

Just wanted to rant, Im having to do it in small stages as its making me sick unpicking all the lovely neat stitches (sob)!

Remind me how satisfying it will be when I have restitched it and it is neat and perfect :o

Oh no! How annoying. I have just started cross stitching and am finding it surprisingly difficult. I'm not sure if my eye sight is good enough.

Sounds even worse than unpicking knitting.

It is really faffy and each thread takes ages. Poncey, youre comment made me smile :). I did seriously consider continuing but the kit is by an american company. I could write and ask for the thread but I need loads and there arent any codes for threads such as DMC so Im not sure how easy it would be to buy the threads.

Ill just have to suck it up I suppose. Im taking lots of breaks (hence being back on here). 5 minutes unpicking gives me 5 minutes mning :o

Belgo - Depending on whether its the chart or the fabric you are having trouble seeing there are little ways to make it easier. I tend to take charts to staples and get them photocopied, they can also make the charts larger when they do this. If its the fabric and stitches then there are a couple of things you can do to make it easier. I bought a very small clip on daylight lamp. It cost me about £6 and makes it so much easier to see what I am doing. Also, on your next project if you use a fabric with a larger square count it is easier to see. I often put away big projects in the evening and have a smaller one standing by that is easier to do in low light. I have fairly good eyesight but every little helps!!

Ha!!! 4 threads down, one had to go in the bin as I snapped it :(. 1 more left, give me strength :).

Although I must admit that any joy I feel at having almost finished unpicking it is far outweighed by the sinking sensation from knowing I now have to restitch it!!!

I have nearly finished a cross stitch on a high count fabric and had hoped to get it finished for new year... only to find I had to unpick a large section ( although I did hack it off in disgust at myself ) I really want to finish it... but just cant bring myself to start stitching that same bit again at the moment. You have my sympathy!

Its nice to know Im not the only one :). My other half thinks its very amusing, he just doesnt understand how disheartening it is!

My heart goes out to you - I've had some stitching disasters aswell. At least it will only take half the time to stitch again.

A tip I read once was to do a 10 X 10 section at a time - you can also tack 10 x 10 grids onto your fabric, its meant to be much easier to read to stitch this way

Im just so annoyed at myself for making such a silly mistake!!! Mind you, on the plus side Ive finally finished unpicking it :)

Just got to restitch it all now

May all your cross stitching disasters be easily remedied :)

So frustrating when that happens!

I did a tapestry cushion years ago and DH reckons that when I had gone to bed he used to unpick large sections of what I had done so it would take me longer and in his words "keep me quiet longer"! Cheeky sod.

i did this once except i had nearly finished when i realised i had made a massive mistake somewhere and it made it impossible to finish.

it was small, 5x5in, so i had a quick rage and binned it.

im doing a huge 18x15 birds picture for ds so i'm being extra super careful this time

im also doing a tapestry cushion but that has the chart printed on the fabric so i can't go wrong