Cross Stitch Christmas Stocking

     My sister excels at counted cross stitch.  She has created cross stitch masterpieces that are matted and framed like fine art.  Old timey sampler designs and beautiful country scenes hang on her walls  She has an artist easel that she uses to display her works that have a seasonal or holiday theme.  One of the nicest things my sister ever did for me was stitch a beautiful blonde angel (representing me, of course) that I turned into a Christmas stocking.  She also stitched a Santa Claus to represent Mike.

My Stocking.

     All good dogs should have a Christmas stocking, and I have been thinking about Mardi's stocking since her puppihood in 2011.  I was shy about asking Sis to take on this job.  If Mardi were a Labrador retriever or a pug, there would be cross stitch patterns aplenty that could be modified to fit my purpose.  However, Mardi is a poodle mix that doesn't look all that poodly when she is shorn.  I could design a stocking covered with paw prints and dog bones, but I wanted her likeness.  After Christmas 2014, I decided to get cracking on the stocking project.  I googled "poodle," "black poodle," "poodle puppies," and all I could find were pointy snouted, long eared, puff tailed critters.  Finally, Pinterest turned up complete instructions for this:

Thanks to the Potuguese blogger who posted this:
sandrinhapontocruz.blogspot.com 

     The facial expression and stubby legs resemble Mardi.  Now the challenge was to convert the brown colors to grays and black.  I am a great technician, but I am not an artiste.  This wasn't going to be easy.  My method was to gather all the brown colors in the pattern and lay them out in the aisle at Joann.  Then I collected all the shades of gray that DMC manufactures.  Mardi is blackest black, but using grays was the only way I could figure out how to shade in the details.  I also used some black.  I chose a gray substitution for each of the original colors based on tone.  I would use black for the eyes, nose, outline, and deepest shadows.  I also decided to change the beige/tan color of the hat band and fuzzy ball to white and palest gray shades.  I thought that was a better blend with gray/black fur.  Fortunately, no one was shopping for cross stitch thread, so I was able to block the aisle for the hour or so that I labored over this task.
     At this point I was thinking I'm on a real roll.  I can count.  Heck, I can stitch this project myself.  Well folks, it wasn't that easy.  Those X's are tiny, and even with bifocals, my eyesight isn't what it used to be.  Armed with a magnifier hanging around my neck, I tackled the job.  My sister coached by email.  This is the result: 

I think I must have stitched about 4,000 little X's.

A work in progress - I colored in each stitch as I worked through the chart.

The Finished Cross Stitch.

Mardi examined her stocking.

This will hang on the mantel instead of the kitchen cabinets in December 2015.