Needlepoint Update!

Hi, friends! It’s been almost three months since I picked up needlepointing as a hobby so I figured it was time for an update! Since January, I have officially stitched five canvases (they are sitting on the TV stand waiting to be “finished”) and am very much having fun! It had a pretty small learning curve at the beginning (and then another one when I switched from continental stitch to basketweave stitch) but nowhere as daunting as I expected before I just started going at it.

Though I haven’t stitched every single day since I started, I have stitched most days and it’s become a comforting part of the day. Sometimes I stitch in the morning before I start working, sometimes as part of my commute “home” in the evening; or to wind down at night. It’s a great multi-tasking activity if you’re watching TV or listening to audiobooks! Keeping my hands occupied with stitching involves just enough brain space for me to not be distracted and thus not reach for my phone as much!

So far, I’ve purchased all the needlepoint canvases directly from the designers but I want to eventually paint some myself. I actually picked up needlepointing with the intention to do so! I used to do watercolor painting when I was growing up in Korea, and it was a big part of my identity. Except for a few art classes in high school, I haven’t done any painting since moving to America and I hope painting needlepoint canvases will ease me back into painting in general and also give me an opportunity to pick up new skills!

Another ambition of mine with needlepointing is to learn sewing. I made an attempt in my mid-twenties and even acquired a small sewing machine but I was so intimidated to a point where I was scared to practice sewing straight lines like my mom told me to so it didn’t go anywhere that time haha. I have been looking up self-finishing ideas and tutorials and will make another stab (pun intended) at sewing!

More updates to come as I keep stitching, I’m sure!

What I’ve Stitched:

• Crescent Moon Needlepoint Kit from Spellbound Stitchery
• Pink Hearts Eyeglass Case from Lycette (the Beginner Kit seems to be no longer available)
• Love Letter from Audrey Wu Designs
• Pawnee Goddess Patch from Saturnalia Stitching
• How I Got This Ring (I don’t cook, I don’t clean) from Saturnalia Stitching

My current WIP (Work-in-Progress), pictured above: Forget-Me Knot in Meadow Green Needlepoint Canvas from Spellbound Stitchery

Canvases to be kitted & stitched: The Year of the Monkey & The Year of the Horse Chinese Zodiac Signs from Audrey Wu Designs

P.S. I created a collection in my ShopMy to maintain a digital inventory of all the needlepoint canvases I’m stitching!