N is for Needlepoint

Before I discovered knitting, I used to be crazy for cross-stitch. 

I guess I should say, "Before I had kids..." 

When I got back to the states after having been stationed in Germany for two years, I decided to check out cross-stitch.   That makes it sound like I was waiting all those years, but it wasn't like that.  It was more like going to a flea market, seeing tiny cross-stitch kits for 25 cents, and buying one. 

I'd attempted cross-stitch in junior high or high school, but it never really took.  I think my mom is still working on the ones I abandoned so many years past.

Once I started in 1994, I didn't really put those needles and charts down until our first kid in 2001.  Then in 2003, I learned to knit, and it's been all yarn, all the time, ever since!  With kids, knitting is a hundred times easier than cross-stitch.  Cross-stitch has a thousand pieces to it, knitting is two sticks and some string, the little ones were over it pretty quickly!

I had two huge bins of needlepoint and cross-stitch stuff.  A year ago, when I went through all my craft stuff, I narrowed that down to one bin of "keep" and one bin of "sell".  Neither have been opened since then.  Most of the "keep" stuff consists of my WIPs. 

I am resigning myself to the fact that I will never get to these.  There's one that I want to finish, but the rest, I should just get rid of it all. 

Previous to kids, I had actually finished quite a few pieces.  Even had them framed!  The biggest piece I finished was a blanket-type one.  It is a piece with sheep and a shepherd and shepherdess and a poem.  I did it for our wedding and put our name and anniversary date in a blank square at the top.  I had the notion that I would put names/birthdays of our kids and their subsequent weddings/kids in the other blank boxes around the center piece.  I had a backing put on by a friend and had her leave it a bit open at the top for this purpose.  I meant it as a wall-hanging.  It's never been hung, the boys' names/birthdays have never been added in. 

When we first moved to Colorado in 2006, Dave put up several of my framed cross-stitch stuff.  He did it as a surprise while I was out somewhere!  I loved that he did that!  I loved having it up! 

Then in 2009, we moved to a town a few miles away and into a much smaller house.  We never put that stuff up there.  2012 - moved again.  We've been in this house for a year now, and my stuff is not up.  I think I will put it up either this month or next.  I like seeing my finished work up.  Gives me hope that I can actually finish things!

I was looking at the big, 7-foot-high bookcase full of my craft stuff in the basement.  I've made a plan of attack for next year.  Each month, I've designated a new craft (Jan - shrinky dinks and needle-felting, Feb - beadwork, etc.).  If I try it and like it, great - keep it.  If I try it and don't care for it, great - get rid of it.  If I don't even give it a shot in it's designated month, I'm going to get rid of it.  I'm sick of hauling this stuff around for no good reason!  (JustkeepwatchingHoarders, justkeepwatchingHoarders....)

Finishing out the year, Ruth!