John Wigham, founder of Patterns Patch, told us yesterday about member, Becky, whose cross stitch projects are progressing well thanks to the Beijing Olympics. Becky is doubling up her stitching with cheering on the Olympic team in their pursuit of Gold medals.

I’m afraid I’m unable to stitch and watch the Olympic Games. I’ve tried, but I tend to make mistakes, or stab myself with my needle. There are lots of things I do while I’m stitching that don’t result in disaster. I wonder if you do the same. Here they are:
 
1. Listen to Audiobooks. I love listening to books, and stitching while listening is a double treat. I cannot look at a flower sampler I made ten years ago without remembering that I listening to Lord of the Rings as I completed it. Listening to the radio can be good, but I find I’m less in control of what I’m listening to.

2. Listen to Favourite Music. There’s nothing to beat stitching and being transported away by your favourite music at the same time.  Have you noticed that you tend to stitch quicker when you are listening to fast-paced music?

3. Use up waiting time. Do you hate waiting your turn at the dentist’s? I know I do, and I cannot raise the enthusiasm to read the dog-eared celebrity magazines that are piled up in front of me. Who wants to know the make-up bag secrets of an eighteen-year old celebrity? Not me, for sure. It’s surprising how much you can achieve if those minutes that would have otherwise been spent worrying.

4. Chat with stitching friends. Usually when you have visitors, good manners dictate that you look at each other while talking. If your visitor is a fellow stitcher, then there’s an acknowledged acceptance that you can look at your stitching instead of your companion.
 
5. Manage stressful times. When people feel stressed, they tend to pace around, fidget, drum their fingers and carry out comforting rituals such as eating or drinking? If you stitch instead, you can channel that energy into something positive and creative. And for slimmers, hands that are stitching are not delving into the biscuit tin.

6. Meditation. Sometimes, it’s good to do absolutely nothing else but stitch in relative silence and have nothing else to distract you. The repetitive movements of your fingers and the slowly growing picture in front of you can help to clear your mind and it takes on a meditational quality.

I know many people manage to stitch on planes, trains, buses and beaches, but I have never managed this successfully. My last efforts on a train resulted in a woman brushing past me and carrying off some of my threads on the back of her coat. I never did retrieve those!

Do let us know when and where you have stitched!

Happy Stitching!
Iona

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under Beginners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.