My new cross-stitch supplies and patterns are sitting on my desk. That’s not a good place for them. If I leave them there, eventually I will lose something. Needles are particularly bad to lose, because of the painful ways in which they might be found later. My sewing box is small, so I can’t put the stuff there. My needlework bag would be ideal, but it already has a lot in it, including some unfinished projects.
There’s this unfinished project:
Also this one.
The pile of unused embroidery floss makes the image sadder to me, because it symbolizes all the effort, expense, and hope spent on readying a project that I gave up on almost immediately.
I stopped to think about this for a while, and I’ve decided that the best thing to do is to make room in the bag by removing the old projects. For now, I will put them in my grandmother’s bag, next to her unfinished project. That sounds gloomy, because she’s dead and consequently never going to finish hers, but my goal is simply to put them somewhere safe, where they won’t be lost or damaged. There they will be also be in good company. My grandmother seemed to favor the simplicity of cross-stitch, but she could do fancier needlework, too, and prettily. And there they will not be a constant reminder to me of my unfinished tasks.
But, assuming I ever finish my current project, I should go back and either finish or dispose of the other two. Then I should either finish or dispose of my grandmother’s unfinished project, because yeah, it’s gloomy. Then I should finally clean and frame her two finished projects. My fear of accidentally ruining them is keeping me from enjoying them.
Have either of your kids showed interest in cross-stitch? Maybe they could help after they practice some…