Cross Stitch Saves the Day!

 

I have been a cross stitcher for many, many years. It began in childhood, when my Nan babysat one evening. She introduced me to the world of cross stitch when I was about ten years old. I have cross sticthed on and off since then, so almost 30 years!! Giving away my age there..

2020 was an absolute stinker of a year. Awful for so many people across the world who lost loved ones before their time. We were all suddenly told to stay at home, not meet with friends and family, work from home. Our lives changed so dramatically. It was like being in a weird dream you couldn't wake up from. 

It was during the spring of 2020 that I began cross stiching again after a very long hiatus. It was pure therapy and I'm so glad I rediscovered it. I ended up going down a long rabit hole and discovering an entire section of YouTube devoted to it. Flosstube! I'm not sure how many hours I've sunk into watching people talk passionately about their cross stitch hobbies.

I've also been introduced to things that I'd never heard of before, grime guards, Q Snaps, and best of all....needle minders. Who know?! Needle minders are wonderful things that keep your needle from going walkabouts, they come in all manner of designs. I spent many happy evenings perusing the variety Etsy had to offer.  

Not only have I been buying needle minders but I've also managed to combine my love of sewing into the cross stitch world too. How? I hear you cry..well, there is an entire section in the flosstubing community all about project bags. Yep, bags to keep all our lovely cross sticth projects in. I have made quite a few. I found a wonderful tutorial by Elizabeth Ann Can Stitch where she brilliantly takes you step by step on how to make one. This was further embellished by the lovely Nicola of Bumble Stitches who makes patchwork project bags. Boy are the addictive! 

Here are a few favourites of mine:

I would highly recommend cross stitching. It's a wonderful hobby you can do sat in front of the TV. Above all it offers a great way to unwind and what a wonderful, friendly community it is too. You'll never come across such lovely people.

Happy stitching folks :)