Etsy Pick: Cool cross stitch

I don't know about you, ladies, but my craft skills are rather limited. Knitting - no. Christmas cards - yes. Sewing or darning - disastrous. Cross stitch, however, is one of those crafts that is so disgustingly easy it should be prescribed to the craft-a-phobic for serious fun. And if it comes in awesome patterns, so much the better.


Pixel People - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles PDF Cross Stitch Pattern, £3.14, weelittlestitches

I will freely admit to having a childhood crush on Donatello, so I obviously adore this. Super simple and incredibly fun, this would make a wonderful addition to any retro wall.

Doctor Who Inspired Cross Stitch Pattern, £5.66, elfstitch

Elfstitch's store is also home to an incredibly delightful 'home sweet home' style Dalek pattern and numerous other paeans to Doctor Who, but this is really my favourite. I love the chinzy nods to traditional cross stitch borders and the real attention to detail. Bravo madam, bravo.

ROFLcopter Counted Cross Stitch Pattern, £2.20, robinsdesign

One for the Tweeters among you, although despite spending half my day on it, I've still not figured out exactly what a ROFLcopter is. Very popular with Caitlin Moran though.

Legend of Zelda cross stitch chart PDF, £5.02, thatquietchick

If I hadn't already promised my very best friend I'd get her a Kindle for a wedding present, I would buy and sew this. Zelda on the NES was MADE for cross stitch; in fact any 8-bit game is so pixellated it would probably look better stitched. Keep an eye out for Pacman as well.

Rollin Robotnik Cross Stitch Pattern, $5, Argenta Collaborative

The combination of one of the arch-gaming villains of the 90s (Dr Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog) and language ordinarily only seen in Cribs or particularly aggressive America's Next Top Model episodes is epic.

Super Street Fighter 2 Character Select Screen, £62.84, Stitch Please MD

This is a finished article, not a pattern, and is more to show what can be achieved with dedication, threads of many colours and a lot of time. You could buy this, but the shipping alone is £30. Use this as your geek-stitch inspiration instead.