Thursday, August 13, 2009

Oh, bama!

How did I miss this? You rascally Brits, keeping this one to yourselves!*

Good thing Google Alerts told me that someone at the Guardian wanted to let us all know that cross-stitch might still be relevant.

I thought that this was a telling remark: "As cross stitch is the art of saying something in a matter of stitches..." I think that's what kills us. People think that cross-stitching is just about putting aphorisms on the wall**. Cross-stitch is seen as the maiden aunt giving unsolicited advice. No wonder we get the old lady reputation. People, we need to tell them it's so much more than that!

I am making great progress on my stockings but the weather is not cooperating for photos. I had to turn the lights on in the house at 1:30 today. Isn't the sun supposed to be on by then?

* Someone had asked whether the Guardian was violating copyright, but I'm pretty sure that they must have a deal with the Cross-stitcher. All sorts of newspapers are finding ways to share copy. I open up the Philadelphia Inquirer to read stories originally written for the Washington Post and Contra Costa Times; the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. No one can afford writers any more.

**I once had a boss, silly girl but otherwise terrific boss, who thought her family invented cliches. She would always say, "as my mother-in-law says, a place for everything and everything in its place" or "as my husband says, you can't teach an old dog new tricks." I'm not kidding. Whenever we talked about stitching (she knit and quilted) she would always tell me how she cross-stitched "a place for everything and everything in its place"--as her mother-in-law always says--to remind her husband to put things away. Really. Gross.

8 comments:

doris said...

Gee, it's grand to be engaged in something considered relevant, isn't it (gag)? Too bad Sally hasn't ventured into the world of linen and hemstitching, which would be infinitely more appealing than aida trimmed with cheap-ass lace. Am I a tad cranky today? Oh well ... as I always say (sorry, can't resist), to each his (or her) own. :)

Cathy said...

Doris-Hear! Hear!

Cheryl said...

Dont like that article, or that bookmark, one bit!

Real Live Woman said...

Those instructions included with the Obama chart are insane! If I'm reading them correctly, they're interpreting the white in his shirt as blank squares instead of using white floss. And I do not understand #1 about "make your first cross stitch on the third column in, on the second row of the aida." What a mess!

Deb said...

I don't like the article or the book mark one bit either. They must have gotten those instructions out of some book printed in 1979 when xstitch was in it's infancy and white wasn't filled it. It never ceases to amaze me how this art isn't more recognized - I had a woman ask me one time when I was stitching what I was knitting. I swear I wish the needle had been as long as a knitting needle because I probably would have taken it to her.

Wendy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wendy said...

Egads... like that article is going to win cross stitch any new fans.

And am I the only one that gets annoyed that there's a website out there with the spelling "crosstitch.com" (Sally linked to it in her article)? If you're going to bother registering a website, how about spell it correctly? It was available.

My opinions on subversive cross stitch are best left untyped. =)

Jenna said...

Ick. What a horrible idea for a bookmark. Very one-dimensional depiction of our craft. Sheesh. And I was the one who left the comment about copyright. If they are continuing to share the celebrity picture charts from CrossStitcher, then you are right, they must have some sort of deal going on with them. I just wish they were advertising for the magazine a little bit more, as it's a half-decent mag that I tend to pick up whenever I wander into a Barnes & Noble.