In this post, I noted that most of my needlepoint and cross stitch designs are original. Here are some of my designs
Kilim-inspired pillow
Crosses design
Diamonds design
Every design that I’d done recently before this was all done on 45 and 90 degree angles, so I decided to try something different.
Back in high school, I started doing four-way bargello needlework. At some later point, I moved on to needlepoint (in bargello, the stitches are the same direction as the canvas; in needlepoint, stitches are diagonal to the canvas). Every time I visit a used bookstore, I check out the needlework section. I’ve bought a lot of needlepoint books over the years, but by far, my favorite designer is Mary Norden, and my favorite book of designs is Ethnic Needlepoint. I’ve designed most of my needlepoint projects myself over the years, but I’ve now stitched several designs straight from this book. Here are two of them that date, roughly, from the mid-2000s:
Back in high school I worked as a dishwasher and cook at a local restaurant. One of my coworkers brought her needlework to do for a little while in the afternoon if business slowed enough for us to take a break. She did bargello, and I was fascinated. I got a copy of Dorothy Kaestner’s Four-Way Bargello and–with the help of my coworker initially–started what has turned out to be a lifelong hobby.
I still have some of the designs I did back then. They are all closely related to designs in the book, but even back then, I was altering the designs myself.
