Ann Logan

I assume that you yourself understand this, but still I will say. It is very important to wash your hands before touching the fabric or thread. Of course, you are going to wash the finished cross stitch design, but why make it dirtier?
In case you use a thread or fabric that is hand-dyed wash them in advance so that they do not stain your handwork.
Unwind your thread from time to time. Just leave the needle and let the thread loose - it will unwind itself... Or help it a little to unwind.
Do this every few stitches, otherwise the texture will be uneven and the fabric will show through your stitches too much.

Use a sharp pair of small scissors to avoid frayed ends on your floss. There are many embroidery scissors or thread clippers to choose from. The most useful size of embroidery scissor for cross stitch is probably 3/12 inch or 4 inch. It is a convenient size for snipping ends of floss while you stitch. Clip the floss with a small tail or with no tail at all. It’s a matter of choice. Beware of ends showing through the fabric. We have many fancy designer scissors and several more plain scissors to choose from. Some of my favorites are by Gingher and they are truly collectors items. They come in a variety of colorful handles and there are new ones every season. Right now the newest one is called Tessa. Store your scissors in the sheath that they come with or in a scissor block if you collect scissors. A scissor block is similar to a knife block.