Jochet Works

So, this was a fun project. I am not super great at cross stitch, but I find it fun and relaxing. So why in the world would I try to tackle something like this, right?

Well, one of my boyfriend’s friends was getting married last year in September. I knew about it in March, and so I started looking for cross stitch or crochet patterns that I could make as a wedding gift. As soon as my boyfriend saw this quote over Mos Eisley, he insisted that this was the project I needed to do.

Okay, six months to get it done. No problem. Except that I procrastinated for four of those. Late in July, I looked at the pattern again and decided that I didn’t like it. It was too small. So I pulled out my laptop and Excel (don’t ask me how I made an Excel spreadsheet for cross stitch patterns, it is a lot of guess work and my IT boyfriend helped a lot), and I made each block from the original pattern equivalent to a 2×2 grid. (Basically I doubled the pattern.) But then everything looked huge and pixelated. So I went back through and rounded out the edges so it looked a little neater. (And I almost completely changed the shape of the letters.)

All of that took… roughly a week or so? Once I had my pattern made and printed off, I did some math to see how big this pattern was going to end up being….. 11in x 14in on a 14 count cloth… Suddenly, the month and a half till the wedding just seemed like not enough time.

Thankfully, over the month of August, I was able to get the words finished, which gave me some hope for getting the rest of it done by September 24th.

Unfortunately, I started my final semester at school, and (since I really wanted to graduate) I spent a lot more time studying and working on homework than I did getting this done. But that is understandable.

By the day before the wedding, I had only just started the Mos Eisley at the bottom of the cross stitch.

Instead of their cross stitch, the couple (who had a very Star Wars themed wedding for which this would have been the PERFECT gift) received a bottle of mead in a Dragon Scale Wine Bag, which can be found under the Crochet Folder. They loved it, and my boyfriend and I told them that there was another gift in process. Thankfully, the wife cross stitches and understood how long some things can take.

After the wedding, I went through some hectic months where I was working, going to school, moving, transferring my job to a different location, and then getting ready to graduate in December. All of this followed by Christmas and making plenty of homemade gifts.

When I pulled the cross stitch out in January, I was a little disheartened to see how far I still had to go.

In early February, I left my retail position and took a couple weeks off before starting at my first full time job. During that time, I basically told myself I wasn’t allowed to work on any other project until I had finished this cross stitch. Around mid-February, we got a hold of the couple and asked if my boyfriend and I could swing by and drop off the finished piece.

I had to trim it down, a little more than I wanted to in order to fit it in the frame, but they both loved it.

I sent a picture of the finished one to my sister, and she requested one. My response was that I had spent six months making it, and if she really wanted one, I would give her the patterns I used and she could make her own.

All in all, I think it turned out really nice. It looks great in the brown frame I found for it. Noting large and extravegant. Just simple and rustic, like something that would be made on a poorer planet like Tatooine.

As always, any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know! I’d love to hear them.

Thanks for reading.

-Jo