Stitches in my time

Nothing seems to occasions comment or sidelong glance - or outright stares - so much as a young woman doing cross-stitch.

Cross-stitch, you say? As in needlepoint? How utterly bizarre. How antiquated. How very domestic and crafty.

I have had complete strangers on the subway ask me about my hobby. A nice Jamaican man saw me working on an Asian-themed pattern a few years ago and asked me lots of questions about it. A Russian woman once saw me working on my current pattern of sunflowers in a green-and-white-striped pot, and told me it was lovely.

Last week an Asian girl sat across from me on the train, while another Asian girl sat next to me. The one next to me was practically hovering over my shoulder as I worked on one of the sunflowers, while chattering to the girl across from me. In the middle of the train ride, they both got up abruptly and switched seats, whereupon the first Asian girl started chattering excitedly back to the other as she started peering over my shoulder. Oddly gratifying but a little weird. Not to mention completely unsubtle.

One wince-worthy moment: one of my co-workers, who is five years younger than me, said to me, "That's so pretty. My grandmother does those things." Talk about making be feel old. Yeesh.

It's relaxing, though. Just me, the needle, the thread, and the diagram. The focus must be completely on the tiny patterns made by the different colors in order for the picture to come out properly. Each set of symbols on the diagram, marking the various hues, must be mapped to ensure minimum waste of the thread. It's terribly satisfying to finally finish using a particular color. (It is, however, very unsatisfying being distracted once and then later seeing that you've missed one teensy stitch in a color trail. Most annoying.)

It's funny, though, since I've only ever finished two cross-stitch patterns. I remember my first pattern, a Christmas angel pattern I was given by my cousin during a "Bitch'n'Stitch" session with her girlfriends, when I was living with her in university. I never did finish it. It was far beyond what my novice fingers could have handled: various beads, 3/4 stitches; slippery gold thread; French knots; some three-strand stitching; some two-strand.

The first pattern I finished was quite well done, if I do say so myself. It's done on black fabric, instead of the usual white or beige, and when it is done you realize it's a tiger's eyes staring at you. I've always meant to get it framed. Maybe I will once we move into our new house.

The second pattern I finished was the Asian design I mentioned, a large character in Chinese script which means "Good Fortune". I gave that to someone who I once considered a friend but we've grown so far apart I don't think we could be again. It was a sort of 'thanks-and-have-a-good-life' gift, but not as snotty as I just made it sound.

I have almost finished my sunflowers pattern. When it's done I'll post a picture. Maybe a nice green frame with a red and gold matte...