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When my sister gave me a couple of small cross stitched Christmas gifts (both super nerdy and awesome), I thought it might be fun to give it a try myself. I had some paternity leave coming up and wanted something to occupy my time besides the kid, so I started looking around for patterns. I’ve always loved Zelda games, and A Link to the Past is a strong contender for my favorite. Maybe a Zelda cross stitch would be up my alley.

I’m glad I picked that one. The pixelated nature of old 8- and 16-bit games makes them perfect candidates for cross stitch. And LTTP is a gorgeous game anyway, with a wonderful color palette. This should be fun, right?

Well, yes and no. What I didn’t comprehend, being a beginner, was the immensity of the project I was taking on. It tested the limits of my determination, but I did eventually find that I love sitting down to stitch with some good music or a favorite TV show in the background, or even just to let my thoughts wander for a few hours. Turns out stitching is, if not fun, then very calming, even therapeutic. And the result is worth the work.

(By the way, you can hear me waxing poetic about Zelda here on one of our recent episodes.)

Week 2

After getting the hang of it, I’ve got some recognizable landmarks. The bridge was the first thing I stitched, and if you look close, there’s a dark brown pixel where it should be dark green, right in the middle. I realized my mistake only months later, and decided it would be fun to remember my beginner’s error.

Month 1

Death Mountain was one of my favorite features to stitch. I think it was because I when I finally put in the last shade of brown, everything really came together magically.

Month 3

I’m a little more than a quarter through, and I’ve hit my first wall. The clouds in the top right are sparsely shaded, so it was a massive, mind-numbing block of one color. There is no light at the end of this tunnel.

Month 6

I loved stitching Lake Hylia. Something about moving from the greys and browns of the cliffs and clouds into the jewel-blue of the lake made this section a real pleasure. It’s time to take a break for a month or two.

Month 12

After hitting the halfway point, I’m starting to think that I might actually be able to do this. Finishing Death Mountain was satisfying, much more so than the brown cliffs around the edges. (What looks like a solid brown on those is actually a randomized pattern of three different colors, and counting it out is a nightmare.)

Month 15

9 of 12 panels complete. It’s to the point now where this is getting pretty automatic. People are congratulating me on my “talent,” but I’m quick to correct them. This is not the result of talent, but rather of sheer determination.

Month 18

57,344 stitches and untold hours later, it’s done. I sprinted to the finish. (Okay, you can’t sprint in cross stitch; but I did put in crazy hours on it every day as I saw the end come into sight.) I finished with Gerudo Desert, then reverently, gently tried to hurl my Ottlight out the window, but my wife restrained me. That’s probably a good thing, because after a cool-down period, I might just want to stitch something else.

Month 19

Finished the design, carving (into oak!), and construction of the frame. Now it hangs on the wall of the podcast studio, gently mocking me for so foolishly taking this on as a first project. Between bouts of laughter, though, it takes time every so often to remind me that there’s a companion piece just begging to join it on the wall…

…Month 3

I’m a masochist.

Be sure to subscribe to The Legendarium Podcast, and follow us on facebook and twitter to keep up with our explorations of fantasy and its wonderful fans.