Have you noticed that when you are a newcomer to a club, a community or a hobby, everyone speaks in a special language – using words and expressions that take time to understand?
Cross stitching is no different. Check out chat forums, magazines and books, and there will be a selection of mumbo-jumbo that you will eventually come to understand the more time you invest. Once you tune into the language, then you start using that secret language yourself.
A friend of mine stated that she spent ages thinking that Aida was an opera by Verdi. Well, yes, it is… and I cannot think why the fabric that we’re all familiar with, has been given the same name.
For new stitchers, Patterns Patch has a full glossary of terms to access that will help you to understand the special vocabulary that comes with the hobby. This will save you a lot of worry, and help you to communicate with other stitchers.
I have put together a small list of stitching acronyms that can help newbies in the world of stitching. I bet you can think of more! Here is my list for starters:
WIP
Work In Progress. That refers to the stitching project you’re working on at this moment.
WISP
Work in Slow Progress
This means what it says, with the implication that the project has been worked on, on and off. Perhaps a newer project has taken over, and the WISP is placed – temporaily – to the bottom of your cupboard.
OAAT
One at a Time. This refers to projects being started and finished, in order. This flies in the face of stitchers having many projects on the go at any one time.
UFO
This means an UnFinished Object. We all have these lurking in our cupboards, and occasionaly these make us feel guilty.
Of course, there are always the ‘American English’ versus ‘UK English’ confusions. For newbies, floss is the same as thread, the former being the American version of the word. Again, patterns are equal to charts, although these words are more often used interchangeably.
I would guess that you have some additional cross stitching terms that are familiar to those who have stitched for a long time – but a complete mystery to newcomers. Let’s share these words and welcome new cross stitchers from everywhere in the world.
Happy Stitching!
Iona
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