Little whale cross stitch pattern

About this design

A chubby whale with a big round head, a pale striped belly and a tail that curls up into two flukes. The body is baby blue (334) with a darker 322 line marking the mouth and the underside of the tail, all outlined in 312 so the shape stays crisp from across a room. A pink cheek and a single dark eye give it a gentle face. Above the head, the spout rises as a short column and splashes outwards in two arcs of droplets, worked in sky blue and a lighter aqua.

How to work it

This is a good first project with more than a handful of colours, because most of it is one big block of blue. Stitch the outline first, starting at the nose and working along the top, around the tail and back along the belly. Fill the blue in rows, then add the darker 322 stitches along the mouth line and inside the tail. The belly is 3756 with a single row of 3325 grooves, so stitch the line between blue and belly carefully. The spout droplets are separate single stitches, so finish each one off neatly rather than carrying the thread between them.

Finishing ideas

At 36 × 23 stitches the whale measures about 2.6 × 1.6 inches on 14-count and 2 × 1.3 inches on 18-count. It suits a 4-inch hoop for a nursery wall, a birth announcement card, or a bib or blanket corner using waste canvas. Stitch a few in different blues to make a mobile.

Colour plan

DMC 334 Baby Blue Medium does the most work, 51% of the 465 stitches, followed by DMC 312 Baby Blue Very Dark at 20%. DMC 3755 Baby Blue (7), DMC 3326 Rose Light (2) and DMC 310 Black (1) are used only a little: small details worth marking on the chart so you don't miss them. 44% of the grid is left empty.

Working notes

23 squares stand alone in their colour, with no same-coloured neighbour along a side; stitch those as you pass rather than starting a new thread for each. The busiest row changes colour 13 times.