32 count cross stitch paper
Fine linen, thirty-two threads to the inch. Over two that is 16 stitches to the inch — 16 count Aida's measurement, and nothing else about it is alike.
Thirty-two count linen — Belfast, most often — is not chosen to make a design smaller. Worked over two threads it gives 16 stitches to the inch, which is 16 count Aida's size to the millimetre: 1.59 mm a square, 6.25 inches (159 mm) for 100 stitches. It is chosen because the cloth is thin, hangs properly, and leaves a finished piece that looks like fabric rather than like a grid.
It is the count that samplers and reproduction charts assume, and the reason is history rather than fashion: a linen at about this fineness is what the originals were worked on. Antique-dyed Belfast under a reproduction sampler is a different object from the same chart on Aida, and that difference is the entire purchase.
One strand over two threads is common here, two where a dark linen needs covering, and a size 26 or 28 needle for either. Below this count the work turns into miniature stitching: 40 count and the silk gauzes above it are what dollhouse carpets and framed miniatures are worked on, usually over one thread and usually under a lens. Thirty-two is the last count most people reach with the naked eye.
Cross stitch paper by count
- Cross stitch paper, any countThe full generator — any count from 6 to 40
- 11 count cross stitch paper11 stitches per inch · 2.31 mm squares
- 14 count cross stitch paper14 stitches per inch · 1.81 mm squares
- 16 count cross stitch paper16 stitches per inch · 1.59 mm squares
- 18 count cross stitch paper18 stitches per inch · 1.41 mm squares
- 22 count cross stitch paper11 stitches per inch · 2.31 mm squares
- 25 count cross stitch paper12.5 stitches per inch · 2.03 mm squares
- 28 count cross stitch paper14 stitches per inch · 1.81 mm squares
Questions
Is 32 count linen the same as 16 count Aida?
The same stitch size, yes: 32 threads worked over two is sixteen stitches to the inch. The fabric is nothing like the same to handle, but a chart finishes at the identical measurement on either.
How many strands on 32 count linen?
One over two threads is the common answer, and it gives the flat, fine look the cloth is bought for. Go to two where the linen is dark or the colour is thin. A size 26 needle suits one strand and a 28 suits a tight weave.
What comes after 32 count?
Miniature work. Forty count linen and the silk gauzes above it are what dollhouse carpets and framed miniatures are stitched on, almost always over a single thread and almost always under magnification. Thirty-two is about as fine as the hobby goes without a lens.
Other tools
- Staff and tab paperBlank manuscript and tablature ruled to a staff height you can measure with a ruler, not to whatever the PDF you found happened to be.
- Beading graph paperCharting paper drawn from the bead's own measurements, so the beads on the page are the size of the beads in the tube.
- Cross stitch pattern paperCharting paper at the size your stitches will actually be, for the count of fabric you actually have.
- English paper piecing templatesPick a shape, type the side length you actually want, and print it at true size.
- Bubble answer sheet generatorScantron-style answer sheets, built to your question count.
- Blank clock facesClock faces with hands drawn where they genuinely belong — at 3:45 the hour hand sits three quarters of the way to four, because that is what a clock does.
- Blank periodic tableEvery blank periodic table online is a fixed image.
- Attendance sheet and gradebook gridsPaste twenty-eight names, choose a month, print.
- Printable graph paperAny spacing you like, in millimetres or inches, printed at true size.
- Printable dot grid paperDot paper at the spacing you actually use — 5 mm for a bullet journal, or whatever you type.
- Printable lined paperCollege ruled, wide ruled, or handwriting paper with a dashed midline — at the real spacings, not an approximation.
- Year in pixelsOne cell a day for a whole year, drawn for the year you name — so February is the right length and the months stop where they actually stop.
- Savings and goal colouring chartsType your goal and how many cells you want.
