5 things I've learned about how cross stitch and me work together

1. I have a short attention span.

This could go in either 2 ways. Small pieces might be better for me. I do enjoy having a sense of completion. It's nice to have finished a piece, lettering, back-stitching and all in a few weeks.

But in larger pieces you can move about in the piece itself. Right now with my big cross stitch I go from working on the left hand side to the top to the right hand side back to the top. The pattern is different on each side so it's a good way to satisfy my short attention span. All the side hopping does result in gaps and stitches that never get filled in...but they will.

2. I need to see the picture taking shape.

Nothing is ticking me off more then the fact that I can't SEE the picture forming with each stitch. It is so much more satisfying seeing the tree take shape and seeing the church have doors and a steeple and seeing the bird become a bird.
SEE! That's a bird. It's blue with a peach underbelly. It's there.

3. Like with crocheting, I never want to rip out my mistakes.

It's true. At this point I can't be bothered with ripping out my mistakes. Especially since they are generally small little mistakes. A dark orange where a medium orange should be. A spot of 6 deep brown where 6 light brown stitches should be. With this HUGE piece I can get away with it, especially because it is such an abstract piece. There is no big definition to the work. Can you see the mistakes? I didn't think so.

4. Switching Threads is a pain.

I get irked every time I have to switch threads while working in the same color. I don't mind going from blue to green to yellow. But running out of yellow while I still have more stitches to go drives me crazy. I wish I could gauge how much thread you would need for whatever block you're working on.

5. My Spatial Relationship skills are constantly challenged.

It's true in my real life and it's true in cross stitch. I have absolutely no sense of spatial relations. I see the pattern and it tells me to start the yellow 1 square over and 5 squares down from the brown, but I just can't make it happen on the cloth. I do a lot of counting and recounting and recounting. I start and realize that it's wrong about every other stitch. It's the same for me in real life. I can't parallel park for the life of me.