When I first started cross stitching, I was very young. My great grandmother taught me to cross stitch when I was about eight years old. It was right around the time when my parents were going through a bitter divorce. I found a strange comfort in cross stitch. It was calming and I was doing something I was good at. These are important thing for a young girl to experience. I grew older and in middle school and high school I had better things to do than cross stitch.
The thing about learning something when you are young is it usually sticks with you. I never forgot the security I found in the constant x after x of cross stitching when I was young. The need to reintroduce something relaxing in my life eventually came to me when me and my husband found out we were expecting a little surprise to come along in nine months.
I had a hard time adjusting to the mood swings I was going through and found myself either biting the heads off everyone I came across or stuffing food in my mouth at all times, specifically so I couldn't say mean things to others, especially my poor husband. One day, a good friend that I had just said something very rude to, told me I needed to get a hobby, and she was right. I needed something to take me away for a little while each day.
The next day I went to the local hobby shop and started to browse the aisles. I eventually ended up in the needle work area of the store and found myself staring at all the adorable cross stitch patterns and kits for baby blankets. I felt like I had found a comfort zone again. By this time I was 2 months into my pregnancy and I was so excited to have found something to do for my unborn baby, I bought the first blanket I fell in love with.
I never thought that cross stitching a baby blanket would be so rewarding to me, but it calmed my nerves so much that I often took it to work with me on the days I had to return irate customer calls. The constant working with my hands kept me from eating all the time and probably saved me an extra twenty pounds! It also helped me to quit smoking which I thank myself for every time I look at my daughter.
The constant rhythm and movement of stitching was increasingly relaxing, I felt less stress with every stitch I took. Before I started the blanket I was so worried about every aspect of my pregnancy that I just wasn't enjoying any part of it. After relearning what my great grandmother had taught me so many years ago that had brought me so much comfort then, I actually became a tolerable expectant mother. My new project eased my nerves, relieved stress, relaxed me and slowed down my spinning mind.
The reason this was the most rewarding cross stitch project I have ever completed is because it actually helped to change my life. I started my family and quit smoking as well as created a treasure for my daughter. It may not be the most beautiful treasure I have ever created, seeing as it was my first cross stitch project in nearly 20 years, but my daughter adores it. She carries that blanket around like it is her life line and I know it gives her as much comfort as it did for me while I was creating it. She named it Anook, and never puts it down or shares it with anyone, except occasionally me or daddy. This project also keeps the story of comfort my great grandmother offered to me through her hobby of cross stitch when I was a little girl in need of comfort, and I can share that story and the art of cross stitch with my daughter someday.
Cross Stitch Library
