A little cross-stitch

2021-Nov-03, Wednesday 06:15 pm
Hello again strangers. It's been a minute, huh? This *waves vaguely at blog* is not a side-hustle. It is genuinely stuff I do for fun. When it's not fun, I don't update, knowing that I'll pick it up again soon. It also means that I am at the mercy of subconscious and fluctuating interests. And lately I have found myself taking to gentle, slow hobbies, like making bath salts, and cross-stitching.

I found a nice kit and set about counting tiny squares in poor lighting, while listening to many hours of youtube and twitch. I wanted to display this piece nicely, and ordered a bunch of different options, but in the end it was the very affordable frames from Ikea that worked out. I cut a square of black foam board to fit the inside of the frame (minus the white card and plastic 'glass'). Then I folded the cross-stitch around the foam board, and stitched the ends together across the back. To keep it secure in the frame I double-sided taped it to the backboard. And just like that I had a piece I could display.

Photos )




All framed
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

I have long admired the fantastic landscapes I've seen in cross-stitch pieces, the subtle gradation in colours, the life-like-ness of the end pieces. And, to be fair, I've envied the multitude of 8-bit character patterns that I keep coming across. But I simply had no idea how to start. Until I came across a really basic start kit; Anchors 1st Kit. When I laid eyes on this cheeky chappy I just couldn't leave him behind.

Peekaboo )

I have enthused in the past about how portable embroidery is, how you can pick it up for five minutes, put it down again, and not have to do a lot of prep work, or tidy up. As true at that is for embroidery, it's even more so for cross-stitch! This piece was mostly done in a hotel room, around getting ready to attend a wedding. It is a simple, repetitive, calming activity, and I think I may be hooked.

What I admired about this type of work, the colour gradations, is no trick or secret. Quite simply, those pieces use a great many colours. Some patterns may have only one row of each colour, but still need over thirty colours! This is something I will have to get used to, but it can only benefit my thread collection :)

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