25 Questions: 1-5

At the exact time this blog entry is posted, I will have just started reading time for the Intelligent Web Systems exam. How is this so? I love this tricky little feature – just alter the timestamp of the post, Publish, and the post will show up after the given time. Nifty!

Anyway, I’m pinching the 25 Questions about Stitching from Belinda’s blog (among other places). I don’t plan to fill my blog with memes, but I think since it’s primarily a stitching blog, these questions are probably worth answering, just so you know. But I’m not going to do them all at once, oh no. Five at a time… you’ll just have to come back to read the rest of the answers later :giggle:

1. How old were you when you started cross stitching?
When I was 12 or 13, my Aunt gave me a stamped cross stitch kit (I know – :yuk:). It was a daisy pattern, to be made up into a cushion. That was also my first colour conversion – I’m not that crazy about oranges and yellows, so I changed them for pink and purple. Amazingly enough, I believe I finished that project… I’ve no idea what happened to it since though.

2. Who taught you to cross stitch?
I did! Well, I guess the instructions did, but nobody specifically showed me how to make an x.

3. What inspired you to begin cross stitching?
After that stamped kit, I was an on-again-off-again stitcher until about 4 years ago. Mainly because I picked too-hard charts. I bought Teresa Wentzler’s Spring Carousel Horse, and later, Mirabilia’s Garden Verses and Winter Queen. None really qualify as beginner designs, and while I had big ambitions, I just didn’t have the patience for these big designs. Finally, at 25, stressed-out by work, I found some freebies on the ‘net (Ellen Maurer-Stroh) , and took it up as relaxation. I found TW’s freebie Stretch around the same time, and subsequently the TWBB, and ebay, and… well, you get the idea. My stash came into being, and I have never looked back.

4. What has been your most difficult cross stitch piece?
So far, I would have to say Stretch. I know he’s only small, but for me it was the first time doing loads of fractionals, and blends. My most difficult in progress is TWs Storyteller, for the same reasons, but on a much bigger scale.

5. Do you have friends that stitch?
I introduced Mum to cross-stitching after she became interested in surface embroidery. Her fabric stash is a great resource! I have 2 friends who stitch – but one is in the UK now, and the other doesn’t get a lot of stitching time, so no SAL-ing for me (other than with online friends).

{to be continued…}