Christmas Cross Stitch

This slender guide by Lammer, a former editor at Stern magazine in Germany and the author of 37 previous books, offers 26 cross-stitch designs on familiar seasonal themes (reindeer, angels, candles) to the embroiderer. Four of the smallest (measuring from 1 1 to 1 2) are suggested for decorative use in greeting cards; the largest are samplers suitable for framing; and the remainder, generally measuring 4 5, could brighten holiday placemats, napkins, handbags, christening gowns, tablecloths or pillows. Displayed on white linen, each design is easy to evaluate as a sewing exercise, but difficult to assess as a finished product. And in a medium as confining as cross-stitch, where the embroiderer longs for choices, at least one design should have been shown in several alternative colorations. A few completed piecessketched, if not fully workedcould have helped cross-stitch enjoy a life beyond the embroidery hoop. (Nov.)