I'm trying to locate a discontinued counted cross stitch pattern.  How
can I reach the largest number of cross stitchers, one of whom may
have this pattern in her personal collection?

Dear sparkle-ga:

My wife is also into arts and crafts (scrapbooking) and if I’ve
learned anything from her obsession it’s that one can meet literally
thousands of people online who are interested in the same hobby as
you.

You can meet any number of people in forums, message boards, groups
and chat rooms who are interested in cross stitching and I have little
doubt that you will eventually find what you are looking for – and
perhaps even something you weren’t necessarily looking for. Through
these types of forums my wife and I have made lasting friendships with
people we would not have met otherwise and our time with them has been
both memorable and rewarding.

I have scoured the web to find these meeting places or you and I’m
sure you will find them informative.

I hope you find my research of great value.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga

MESSAGE BOARDS AND FORUMS

Cross Stitch Forum
http://crossstitch.about.com/mpboards.htm

Creative Homemaking Cross Stitch Forum  
http://www.creativehomemaking.com/forums/Counted_Cross_Stitch/

VoyForums: CROSS STITCH FORUM  
http://www.voy.com/4378/

Phorum - Crochet, knit, cross stitch
http://www.homeandholidays.com/phorum/list.php?f=4

Cross Stitch - All Fiber Arts Link Library
http://www.allfiberarts.com/cs/cross-stitch.htm

Purple Cross Stitch 
http://pub1.ezboard.com/bpurplecrossstitch.html

Cross stitch and craft 
http://www.johnsoncrafts.co.uk/forum/

Aion: UK cross stitch forums 
http://pub28.ezboard.com/baionneedlecrafts 
The Cross Stitch Exchange 
http://members.tripod.com/crossstitch2001/

Cross Stitch Message 
http://fastforums.com/crossstitch/index1.html

Cross-Stitch.ca Forum
http://www.stitching.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFID=36133&CFTOKEN=75126719&CFApp=13&

Cross Stitch Message Boards
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ranch/5328/urllist/xstitbbs.htm

Social Cross Stitch Board
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=socialxstitch&nav=messages


CHAT ROOMS

Cross-Stitch - Cross-Stitch Collectables
http://www.totalsurf.com/pages/Cross-Stitch/ 

Hobby Corner: Cross Stitch Nook
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/2453/xstitch.html

Teresa's Place 
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/4586/page3.html

Cross-stitching.com
http://www.cross-stitching.com/

Cross Stitch Pals 
http://www.crossstitchpals.com

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Google Directory – Cross Stitch Resources
(As always, a multitude of links courtesy of Google)
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Crafts/Needlework/Cross_Stitch/

Google Directory – Cross Stitch Patterns
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Crafts/Needlework/Cross_Stitch/Patterns/

Google Directory – Personal Homepages
(You can meet 14 different cross stitchers using this link alone!)
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Crafts/Needlework/Cross_Stitch/Personal_Pages/

Yahoo Groups
Search terms: “cross stitch”
(This link leads to 314 different groups with literally THOUSANDS of
members)
http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=cross+stitch

Please express my profound gratitude to tutuzdad for his thorough and
gracious answers to my question.  Appreciated his experience with an
obsessive crafter.  With the sites he's offered me and his
encouragement, I hope I won't have to ask a followup question.  I was
completely discouraged until I found this wonderful Google site.  What
a wonderful resource!! Will let you know if I'm successful.  My new
best friends - Google and tutuzdad.  Gratefully, Sparkle

sparkle,

If you post another question here giving as much information as you
know about the pattern you are seeking (creator, company, design
details, etc), Google Answer's Master Web Searchers would probably be
willing to try to track it down for you. (You might want to make it
worth a little more than this one, to encourage serious research.)
State that you will only consider the question answered if the
answerer is able to find you a confirmed source for the pattern and
contact information for the source.

If you find the pattern yourself before a Researcher finds it for you,
you can just cancel (expire) your question, and you are not out any
money.

I hope this information is of assistance to you!