Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

[rcperryls]

Sounds justifiable and reasonable to me! Especially if there are still patterns to stitch!

Carole

[salome]

Yay, confessions!

- I'm a thread licker. I've been doing it since my grandmother taught me handquilting at the age of 7, so 30 years later there's little chance of my stopping anytime soon.
- I couldn't care less how the back looks. Although I did just finish a bookmark that I left "open" on the back and was quite proud of how neat the back was.
- I have a kit that has evenweave and I'm scared to start it because: I've never stitched on anything but aida.
- I adore the colors and work that goes into them, but I have never purchased (and probably never will) hand-dyed threads. They're just way beyond my budget.
- If I run out of a color in a project and it's one that my local Walmart doesn't carry, I just substitute with something as close as possible that I can get. So far, no one's noticed.
- I spent four hours yesterday reorganizing my "stash" and will spend at least that long reorganizing it today, because it's almost as soothing as actual stitching.
- I binge watch FlossTube videos on YouTube and am equal parts jealous of how much other people get in their hauls and amazed at how beautiful their works is.
- More than once in the past week the family has been on their own for dinner because I was too busy stitching.
- I spent a portion of my Christmas budget on stitchy stuff for myself.

[curly sue]

On my current project, I discovered too late a couple of major counting mistakes. Due to getting lost on the chart because of the counting mistakes, I finally just started winging it as to the floss colors. Since the chart is a tiger, no one will ever notice.

For me the joy is in the stitching, and unless it would be a major obvious flaw, I just leave the mistake and carry on!

[fccs]

For me the joy is in the stitching, and unless it would be a major obvious flaw, I just leave the mistake and carry on!

Exactly!

[Diane1012]

I had to stop going to the store around July. I have 6-7 Christmas stocking kits hidden that I haven't been able to make. If I go to the store, I will buy more.

[mysterystitcher]

I had a plan to knit every single stitch ready first and attack on canvases after that, but my spinning (I will send yarn to someone, and I decided I'll make her a bigger ball of yarn as a surprise, so I needed to spin more) made my neck hurt. That means I had to grab my needlepoint and let the needle fly. Well, it doesn't exactly fly, but I got even some progress done.

[caz78]

I am so happy I popped back here after so long! So many of my secret little cheats aren't so secret after all It's not just me - yay!

1) I also over stitch mistakes!!!! I'm not alone, thank God lol I find as long as I pull the thread snug you really can't tell. Then I have a little bit of sneaky smugness that I got away with it If it does look a little bulky then sometimes I will just do a half stitch if that will cover the previous colour. If the stitched area is a bit tight I will use one strand and go over twice each way. I cheat a lot! Wrath is 5 years in the making so far and I wouldn't have got this far without some fudging

2) I lose my needle most days. It never seems to stick to a magnet properly and falls out of the fabric when I just jab it there. It's a common call in our house 'I've done it again!!' Hubby and DS11 come running and play hunt the needle. They haven't failed me yet

3) I have purposely ruined projects I wasn't enjoying just to justify starting a new one

4) I bought a fancy schmancy wooden box for the threads I'm using at the mo. Told hubby the plastic ones were soooo hard to work with once I saw the wooden one and I 'really needed it' . Naughty me!

5) if I decide to start a new project I can't wait. I need it...now! I can't wait for threads to arrive, or fabric. It's straight in the car and drive 30 miles if needs be. I can't be without something to stitch.

6) I resent everything that stops me stitching. I have a tiny house and have to stitch in the kitchen. Our bathroom is off the kitchen. So I get interrupted. Every. 5. Minutes!!!

7) I ONLY stitch HAEDs now. I hate fancy stitches and gaps. I have decided to stick to the smaller ones though cos life's too short when the big ones take so long.

I'm the world's slowest stitcher. No exaggeration. About a stitch a minute! I've counted.

9) If I get a tangle on the back I will pull the loop down and stitch it down tight. Can't leave it. Can't face all that frogging.

10) I do 'me style' parking and Haed's. Not cross country. Not a page at a time or 10 x 10's. I work ALL the way across row 1, then back along row 2, and so on. It evolves line by line. I've never seen anyone else stitch in such an odd way but I don't get lines and the back's neat lol.

Ah confession feels good.

[fccs]

3) I have purposely ruined projects I wasn't enjoying just to justify starting a new one

Your confessions made me laugh - especially that one. Thanks for sharing.

[Nicola Main]

Yes I laughed too! Especially at 3 and 4! I can totally relate to number 5

[caz78]

I am glad. It's always good to share a smile

[Allyn]

...10) I do 'me style' parking and Haed's. Not cross country. Not a page at a time or 10 x 10's. I work ALL the way across row 1, then back along row 2, and so on. It evolves line by line. I've never seen anyone else stitch in such an odd way but I don't get lines and the back's neat lol....

I did that, too, on my last project and then did it again starting this one. I treated the top row of pages as one big page -- all the way across and all the way back.

[caz78]

Yay! Always good to realise someone else stitches the same way It just makes sense to me to keep going! I've found it's very neat too as there is no coming up between stitches that are already there. No gaps for miscounting. Just takes a bit longer with all the colour changes really, but parking helps there. I'm super slow at stitching but super speedy at threading needles though so no biggy. Really keeps the bulkiness down as well.

Thanks for letting me know!

[ecology665]

This is my confession. I can't stop buying Floss and I Love Anchor Threads. I wish there was a vendor here in central, New Jersey.

[ecology665]

I get it! I don't lika metallics and blending filaments. I am being adamant about using them....but ohmygosh! They are getting on my nerves!

I don't care for 14-Count?

Like it when I choose my own colors and it works really well.

[seedreemer]

I have a new confession. I'm just full blown making AND LEAVING knots on the back these days. And I'm liking it! I'm also not being too picky about some colors. I'm working on the sky section of a big project, and if all I need is a single stitch of one of the million blues I just use whatever is on my needle. I am carraaazey!

[fccs]

I have a new confession. I'm just full blown making AND LEAVING knots on the back these days. And I'm liking it! I'm also not being too picky about some colors. I'm working on the sky section of a big project, and if all I need is a single stitch of one of the million blues I just use whatever is on my needle. I am carraaazey!

[ecology665]

I love it seedreemer!

Duh...How can I hate 14-count when I'm working on several projects that are 32-Count? I'm Wacky!

[19Roland19]

Not exactly a confession, but didn't know where else to post this.

I'm working on a stocking. Some difficulty because some symbols are to close to each other. I've actually had to frog an area because I used a green instead of 211. So, when I started using number 437 and it was exactly the colour beside it, which was a different symbol I was quite upset with myself. I looked to see which colour was wrong.

The 437 was beside 738. And they looked identical. I put the two skeins beside each other....identical! I assumed I must have mislabeled one and was trying to figure out which. I was looking at my work as I walked into another room, and with no direct sunlight....I saw a very slight difference. The 437 is just a tinge darker.

It's a Father Christmas robe, and the colour of the robe is 738, but where there is a fold or ripple in the material, the 437 is the part in shadow.

I've never seen a pattern with large chunks of each colour, but with such a suttle detail. It's making me enjoy this more as I watch it develope.

[19Roland19]

Working a sky area with three shades of blue. I am stitching over two, and I discovered one stitch, the bottom right corner was one hole over (where no thread should have gone through. Pulling it out would have required pulling out quite a bit. Since the stitch beside it was close in shade, I just put the bottom left stitch into the same hole. After a few stitches....it doesn't show.

So I'm leaving it thus way.

[AngieR]

1. I have three projects. Only two started. Itching to start number 3 but making myself wait.

2. I have my mothers stash but none of it is stamped so well never do them. Books, needles, very little floss and fabric.

3. I don't worry about the back. Means I may have to buy more floss before the ones I am working on are done.

4. I rarely fix mistakes. Even when I did counting kits. No one notices but me.

5. I did several things in my early 20's don't remember most of them and only have two of them here. Now getting back into cross stitch last summer and so far only work on them in summer time. The first one I started last summer my niece finished. I got frustrated cause it was taking so long and wanted it done.