Makoto’s Cross-Stitch Super Collection by Makoto Oozu is, as it says on the cover, very cool! and not lame! Originally two books published in Japan (Hop, Stitch, Jump! and My Stitch Book), this is an awesome compendium of tiny, geeky patterns and projects to stitch. It’s got robots, dinosaurs, monsters, aliens, insects, sea creatures, travel, and electronics to choose from.

I love the way the book is organized. Part 1 shows you all of the designs stitched in full color. Part 2 is full of an interesting variety of projects with everything from shirts to pillows to an amazing pegboard wall panel (who needs Aida?). Part 3 goes over cross-stitch materials and tools, basic stitches, and detailed instructions for all of the projects.

As much as I would love to make the pegboard wall panel, I don’t have room for that in my house (seriously, I need to make room for this!), so I went small and stitched on a Moleskine notebook cover.

To get the holes in the right place, I was going to draw lines with a pencil, but the book had great advice–photocopy the pattern from the book and use that as a guide for punching the holes. I opted to use my Japanese screw punch with the smallest tip instead of a book awl and decided to go with the purple pterodactyl. I punched the holes and started stitching.

Since the design is so small, I was able to use threads from my loose stash and stitched with two strands. I think that the next time I stitch on a notebook, I’ll use more strands, but I’m still very happy with how my dinosaur came out.

These designs are so quick to stitch up–I think the pterodactyl took me 15 minutes–these notebooks would make great last-minute gifts.

Rad news! I’ve got one copy of Makoto’s Cross-Stitch Super Collection to give away. Leave a comment telling me your favorite dinosaur and why by Friday, June 24th at midnight ET and I’ll pick a winner at random. Respond to another reader’s comment and get an extra entry (limit one, please). [Edit – midnight ET. I can only stay up so late :)]