Little goat in a red scarf

This little goat in a red scarf is a small, easy cross stitch pattern for winter and Christmas. Five DMC colours cover it. Cream 543 takes 985 of the 1891 stitches and black 310 takes 578, so two threads do most of the work. Brown 434 is kept for the horns and hooves, red 347 for the scarf and pale 3856 for the inside of the ears.

Where should you start on the goat?

The centre of the chart lands on the chin, just above the scarf. Count up from there to the nose and stitch the nose, the smile and the two eyes first. These few black stitches decide the expression, and a mistake is easier to fix now, while there is almost nothing to unpick. Then follow the black outline of the head, around the ears and horns and down the body. All outlines are full cross stitches, and there is no backstitch to come back for.

Once the outline is closed, filling in goes quickly. Do the big cream areas of the head and body in long rows, then the red scarf and the brown horns and hooves, and leave the ears for last. The fiddly places are small: the black lines that separate the knot of the scarf from its ends, the narrow cream strip between the front legs, and the inner ears, where the pale colour meets cream.

What fabric colour works?

The blue behind the goat in the drawing is the fabric itself, because the background stays unstitched. On pale blue Aida the cream body stands out clearly. Light grey or pale green would also work. On white or ivory the goat looks softer and the black outline does the job of separating it from the cloth. Avoid dark fabric, where the black lines would be lost.

Finishing ideas for a small winter piece

At 8 by 10.5 cm on Aida 14 it suits a small round hoop, a card with a cut-out window or a felt-backed ornament for the tree. A red ribbon for the hanging loop picks up the colour of the scarf. Allow about 19 hours if you are planning it as a Christmas present.