Celebrity Face in Cross-Stitch The Harry Potter Edition

Sweet! Daniel Radcliffe as imagined by our friends at the Cross-Stitcher. They do not let me down, people. (Still where's the Morrissey?)

I Love This Project...Siobhan

Guest Blogger Tuesday
I Love This Project
Siobahn of Blue Hen Hollow

"When Anna asked me to do a guest blogging stint based on my favorite project, my mind started spinning about which one I'd pick. I've wanted to run over a few with my car (cough cough Hannah Pepper cough cough), but others just make me happy when I look at them. I thought of my Houses of Hawk Run Hollow, which I stitched while leading a SAL with some super fun stitchers, the design that led me to start stalking Kathy Barrick in earnest. I thought about Blackbird Designs' Union Forever, which I was intent on stitching in the car during my daughter's equestrian lessons, that is, when I could tear my gaze away from noticing how well my her teacher filled out his breeches. Caught up in stitching and gawking, I'd forgotten that I left my car lights on and ended up frantically calling my husband to come and jump the car battery while not admitting that I'd been thinking about jumping the equestrian teacher. Good memories, good memories. In the end, I settled on Le Marquoir de Justine, which is a reproduction sampler charted by Anne Pelletier-Pauleau of France.

My Justine is special to me for so many reasons, one of those is how many people helped me to stitch it. You know the saying about how it takes a village to raise a child? Well, it took a bunch of friends to help me stitch this sampler. A stitching buddy in Utah, whose needlework skill I greatly admire, graciously shared her thread conversion with me. I bought the Needlepoint silks and linen (Lakeside's 40 ct Vintage Nutmeg) with birthday money from my mother. I couldn't find the chart online, so I remain grateful to a friend in continental Europe who found it in a local shop and sent it to me. I started stitching it and realized that my chart was one of many that was missing the last page. Another stitching buddy to the rescue--this time, my friend from Wisconsin. When I was done with my chart, I sent it on to a friend in Canada who was searching for Justine's chart to no avail. When I look at my finished Justine sampler, I think of all these friends that I've made because of our shared love for needlework, and I remain humbled about how blessed I am to be a part of this wonderful community.

I also think of Justine herself. Little Justine was just eight years old when she stitched her sampler, while preparing for her First Holy Communion. She died at the tender age of ten. Stitching the Catholic symbols was a salve on my heart as I thought of little Justine's short life, and how her mother must have grieved for her. As I stole moments to stitch between shlepping my kids from school and activities, making dinner and refereeing fights, it reminded me that I am blessed to have three healthy kids. I have faith that Justine and her mother are aware that some two hundred years after Justine put needle to linen, people all over the world are thinking of Justine. She lives on in our hearts."

---

I had heard tales of this Siobhan character on Melissa's blog every now and again, but didn't really get to know her until she started her blog this year. Even though she lives in Ireland, her needlework store is my LNS, Strawberry Sampler. Siobhan is an American married to a not-American. We girls have to stick together because, trust me, it's not all fun and games and mooning over his accent. No matter how sexy that accent may be. Siobhan has smoking needles, and she does giant projects like it's nothing at all. Very inspirational.

Big Book Sale

Interweave Press is having their hurt book sale. Up to 75% off books with (in my experience) slightly damaged covers. Heather Holland-Daly's Stitch Graffiti is half off. Other embroidery books are available. I bought mostly beading books. (Last year I bought knitting books.) Shipping is a little high, but book prices make up for it.

In the Nick of Time...Late on Another

Anniversary present for the dude.
Don't
Monsterbubbles c 2005
Called for Silk n Colors. 35 count WDW Havana.
Had to add the extra apostrophe in let's. It belongs there; trust me.
Tomorrow night we'll be having a really romantic dinner but I'll tell you all about that on Wednesday. Don't forget, tomorrow is Guest Blogger Tuesday!

Unfortunately, I've been scooped by Craftzine. Back in March, dd's mom, Jomama, gave us a couple of vinyl zippered pouches that those sheet sets come in to carry our projects. And I really meant to blog about it months ago. But I'm such a procrastinator. Now I know why I need to get right on things that I need to share with you. You could have been using this for months. There's even a handy pocket (you can just make it out because it is clear) where you can put your name and contact info in case you ever get separated from your stuff.

Review

I should have done this on July 2, the halfway mark. Oh well. Aren't I always a week late? My pledges for 2009 are italicized below, assessment follows.

1. Make sure that I am always happy stitching on a project. This means that if deadlines are stressing me out, I will change the goal. No more panicking. Not bad. I only had one post about how my mother wasn't getting the gift I had planned for her, and it was written by someone who wasn't panicking despite the great unstitchening. Nice!
   


2. Finish-finish more projects for myself. Last year I did 13, including ones I sent for framing and things I finished for gifts. This year, less framing, more alternative finishing. I'm going to shoot for 12 pieces from the finishing pile finished by myself for myself. I think that's specific enough! Started off really well, but I have lost steam on this. I think this has fallen by the wayside as my ability to schedule myself completely unravels...still, I've finished 7 which is on track for 12 this year. I've also framed three others. I impress myself.
   


3. Mermaid SAL with Michelle. This is for my mom's 65th birthday, and if she's lucky it will be done in April. If it's not, it'll be a helluva Christmas gift. Michelle! What are we doing here? I haven't touched the mermaid since March. Also, I am thinking birthday 2010.
   


4. Flea Market Souvenir SAL with Linda and Rosa. (Someday I am going to Iceland. Really.) Woohoo! I finished stitching the Flea Market Souvenir last week.
   


5. Put at least one Saturday a month into the French marquoir. So very sad. I haven't done this even once. And we're getting into Christmas present season...


6. Make a dent in the WIP pile. (I know I say this every year.) I finished Anna's Bird. I finished Monthly Mania November; that leaves three more months. I worked on the Layman mermaid and Tree of Life Window. Anna's Stocking, Brett's Stocking, and Miribilia Christmas fairy are on the list for this month. Not bad.


7. Make tiny little changes to make myself healthier. I changed over to whole wheat English muffins (without high fructose corn syrup); I'm drinking 8 glasses of water a day; and I'm taking the meds. I started off the year pretty well, exercising half an hour every day. Then I fell off that wagon. Now that Stella is here, I walk between 80 and 120 minutes every day. And we walk. Stella doesn't believe in doing her business on the walk. (It's fine; we have a mutually agreeable solution, but I talk enough here about my own poop, you don't need to know the dog's business too. Though her "go" command is "get busy," which my sister thinks is a riot, but that's how she came to us.)
   
   
8. Find a new job. Working on it. But it's like pushing a rock up a hill, one that slowly rolls back to crush my spirit.

One Down

I did manage to finish the Flea Market stitching on Monday night. As you can see, now stitched with 100% more dog hair. I may not get around to the finishing until Christmas presents are made.

I'm home all day so I should manage to put some stitching into the dude's anniversary present (6 days and counting), right? Somehow I don't. I don't understand how more time=less accomplished. Really now.

My little rants and the ensuing discussion do require my attention. I know I have outstanding comments and e-mails to respond to, but again all day to do it, and nothing gets done. Now I'm running out the door to meet someone. It's good I'm doing this--gets me out of the house and forces me to, um, organize myself. Ahem.

I know you need your Stella fix. Here she is eating meeting my niece. It's love!

I Love This Project...Adrienne Martini

Guest Blogger Tuesday
I Love This Project
Adrienne Martini

"It took me seven years to knit this sweater.

Which isn't to say that it took seven years from first stitch to last. The act of knitting this sweater only took about four months. I worked away at it after the kids went to bed or on long car trips. I watched countless hours of mindless TV while knitting this sweater, which I can do when the bulk of the work is stockinette stitch.

But it took seven years for me to have enough knitting experience to make this sweater. It took seven years to learn how knitted fabric behaves and how to make it work on my body. It took seven years to gather the supplies I needed to make it. The yarn came out of my stash -- hell, it took this long to really have a stash. The yarn, like the buttons, was intended for another project that never panned out.

It's not perfect, of course. There is a wonky cable and poorly cast-off neckband. Still, this is the first sweater I've made that turned out exactly as I'd imagined. It is just what I wanted. And I love it."

"Tangled Yoke Cardigan"
Eunny Jang from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007.
Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Berry.
Buttons made by The Rams Horn.
(For a close-up of the buttons, check out Adrienne's sweater post.)

---

I first met Adrienne in July of 2007 when she asked about pumpkin patterns for cross-stitch. She probably didn't expect this, but I tend to be thorough which is why I don't do as many things as I would like. Adrienne's blog focuses on her writing, her kids, and her crafting. She is widely-read and keeps me up to date with what is being written on the innernets with her "many things make a post" posts. If you want even more, you can read her book.

Almost Forgot

Starting tomorrow and continuing for several weeks, Tuesday will be "Guest Blogger Tuesday" around these parts with some of my favorite bloggers writing about "their favorite project." I lifted the idea from shimelle lane when she had her scrapbooking friends write "I Love this Photo".

As the dude will always tell you, being able to recognize a good idea is a real skill.

See you tomorrow!

Dialogue

Like Donna, I was delighted to see that we have entered into a dialogue about the possible representations of cross stitch, and I do hope it is one that continues. I think that Mr X and I are on the same side, mostly. I didn't see a manifesto on his website so I didn't know that his intention was to "challenge[] the conception that embroidery is just a hobby and not a valid art or craft form...[pieces featured on his site] serve some function in altering people's perspectives of the genre." As you know, I am a big fan of altering people's perspectives of the genre. Which is why I have the "old lady count" and feature the silly stories the media tell about us. And encourage you to write to complain.

I must recommend Rozsika Parker's Subversive Stitch to everyone who wants to be radical. Cross your fingers that it is in your library because it runs $145 in paperback these days. Don't be put off by the subtitle: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. The book shows how women have long resisted the very things we think we're resisting today by writing "fuck" in cross-stitch. I don't know, somehow if you know history, you just come off better.

So what were people doing in the 60s, 70s, and 80s to be radical? (In Parker's book, she even shows how women in the 20s were being radical in embroidery.) Since one could write a whole book on this, let's turn to one example, Judy Chicago who attempted to elevate women's craft in the mid-to-late 70s when she created the Dinner Party and reinforced these attempts with the Birth Project in the 1980s. (And indeed, in an overdetermined way, Chicago's work informs this very blog.) The latter focuses more on needlework than the former, though it is included in the place settings of the Dinner Party. (Of course, even Chicago's attempts to elevate craft are open to very valid criticism. Here's a pretty good summary, though not such a good refutation.)

Is the problem that her work seems so old fashioned and feminist? What exactly are people trying to do differently?

One of the main problems with cross-stitch-as-art is that sometimes artists aren't very good artisans--their work sort of sucks. Or more literately, the idea is good but the execution lacks talent. When I went to see the Dinner Party in L.A. many moons ago, they also had a secondary display of artwork that played with the notion of women's work and art vs craft. There were little cross-stitched Piet Mondrian-type pictures on display. With hoop marks. It was big-A Art because it was playing with ideas about high versus low (and also it was in a museum) but technically my eight year old niece could have stitched it. Or maybe the refusal to use an iron was subversive?

I know there are lots of dear readers who refer to what they do as "art" but when you copy a pattern, that is craft. It is the very definition of craft. You can call your cubic zirconium a diamond, but it doesn't make it one.

Of course there are those who create their own patterns and that does move toward art. But unless you have a technical mastery, I'm afraid I can't call it art. There are even designers I wouldn't consider artists. If you are "designing" things that I could design with a charting program, not art. I just think there really has to be some level of design skill involved, and I can point to dozens of popular designers who aren't using the skills they quite probably have. If you are creating reproductions of existing samplers, not art. (But a fabulous service to those of us who love antique samplers.) If you are charting famous artwork or photographs, not art. (I think I have to agree somewhat here with Bronny about the blending of skintones, but I also appreciate that there is always a bit of a pixelated look to cross-stitch which makes it so intriguing in a computer age.)

Donna said "it's the media" but I spent eleventy-million years writing a dissertation saying that while the media does reflect a larger belief system they don't create it. Of course, spreading the reflection, yes, and if that's what we mean by creating, okay, creating then.

And I don't disagree that it's wonderful that young people are taking up all kinds of needles. I was in my early twenties when I started stitching (though I did crewel at a much younger age). I encourage my niece to stitch as well. Stitch, young people, stitch!

But "stitchalicious" says

It's really no different to any other hobby/interest/sport/career. The young are eager and beginners. These are people just getting into it and of course they want positive feedback. And of course we want to give it so that they KEEP doing it and get better. Why can't we be to them what our teachers were to us? I can assure you that my first needlework teacher (ummm, Mum) gushed over the wonkiest, ugliest, worst stitching ever to be inflicted on a piece of fabric and that is part of what kept me doing it.

I must respectfully disagree, having spent 8 years as a college writing teacher. Sure your mother is supposed to gush, but not all teachers are. I didn't have that mother. She praised what I did well, and was honest about my weaknesses. We're in this trap that there's something about self-esteem that prevents us from being critical. Frankly, there's no place for feelings when you are trying to get better at something. I can't possibly imagine the dude blogging about his golfing and people applauding him like he was Tiger Woods (so, it's not like other interests and sport). In sport we have really rather defined categories: professionals and amateurs; junior varsity vs varsity; high school vs college; intramural vs college team; Division I vs Divisions I-AA, II, and III; Olympic-caliber vs weekend athlete; Pros vs Joes. (Of course, golf lets amateurs play with the professionals. Still not all amateurs are equal.) And I'm pretty sure the guy who plays pick up on the weekends doesn't think he could compete with Kobe Bryant; maybe not even the Duke basketball team. Just because something is accessible doesn't mean we are all masters. I'm not going to turn up my nose at beginner work--I'm not even going to turn it over and look at the back--but I don't think that just because you can make an ex on a piece of fabric you should be lauded. And I do think that's what the DIY-media has a tendency to do. Things they haven't seen before should be featured.

So is it ingenious to embroider a picture of your vibrator? Is it "new" to cross-stitch political statements? No. Do I think that people should stop doing it? No. Do I think we need to have a historical grounding for talking about what we are doing? Yes. Do I think that technical excellence is important? Yes. Do I think I'm better than you? Probably (but that has nothing to do with the fact that I am technically skilled but too lazy to make the things you are making). Do I want to be lumped with the old ladies who stitch geese because that's the strawman you set your own radical nature against? No. I want you to understand that the spectrum of crafters and output is much more expansive than you seem to think. Promise me, okay? Then let's go down to the pub and drink to it.