Has it occurred to you that being a dedicated stitcher is rather like being a virus? No, really think about it. Wherever you go, you spread your addiction around you, without regard to its effects on the victim. If that’s not being a virus what is? Be honest now. If you’re in the floss aisle at AC Moore, and someone looks puzzled do you just stand there, or do you go over and help, and while doing so press 5 more things on them that they never heard of? Haven’t you ever looked on in horror while someone picked out what you knew was the totally wrong fabric for the design, and intervened, or talked someone into something just a bit more challenging? Come on, you know you’ve gotten someone to buy Kreinik braid, instead of gold colored floss, for a candle flame and assured them it was going to be fine while you also pressed some Thread Heaven into their hot little hands. It happened to me today.
I was in AC Moore with my daughter (got to pass on the addiction to the next generation) buying supplies for a dish towel, when I saw a woman holding what looked like a chart and having a hard time finding her colors. Now in this AC Moore, for reasons passing understanding, they file first by color family and then by number. You could go nuts finding what you need. Good person that I am, I helped her out, and soon she had what she needed. It turned out that she was getting floss for a stamped pillowcase with a variety of stitches. “What kind of needle do I need?” She now asks, so I gave a mini lesson on needle types and gave her a packet of the right kind, after explaining that the ones with the large eyes were easy to see but would make large holes in a small count fabric. “Don’t worry” I say “We’ll get you a needle threader” She brightened up immediately. My daughter, who is well on her way to being an addict herself, came up to us with a Loran kit having a threader, a magnet, and a needle case. My daughter happens to think Loran needle threaders are cool. “Look” she said “isn’t this kit the neatest thing? It even has a magnet to pin to your work and hold stuff.” We both smiled, the kit went into the woman’s basket: I fairly burst with pride. Finally, I said “Do you have a hoop? You’re going to need a hoop.” “Oh yes, I’ve got one of those” I smiled; my daughter grinned already knowing what was coming. “Can I show you something better?” I said I led her around the corner to where the q-snaps were, briefly explained their use, and after assuring her that yes, it would fit inside the pillowcase. Into the basket it went. Delighted the woman thanked me for all my help. Afterwards, my daughter thought that incident with the woman was at least as much fun as the shopping. A true addict/virus in the making!
Find it hard to keep track of your place on your charts? Here's an idea. Xerox the chart, and mark off the stitches you work with a highlighter as you go on the copy of the chart. You can also use the original but this is extra insurance for mistakes. Keep the pen far away from your work though!
