Another SAL hosted by Jo over at http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com, each month she allows her readers to choose a theme to post about. So this month, the people chose Wizards.
My hubby has a growing collection of wizard figurines, many of whom have been brought back from my travels or shopping trips. So, when I first started to cross stitch in earnest, my BFF's suggestion was this wizard which is actually part of a set of bookmarks.
Being an absolute newbie at the time, though, I chose to stitch on 11-count Aida, and frame the final item.
It took a couple of years to complete, not that it was a big stitch, however, we suffered the trauma of 2 miscarriages and a traumatic pregnancy with our son. Somehow the act of cross stitching on this piece and its complex half stitches (at least to an absolute beginner) became bound up with the personal traumas for me emotionally, and it was some time before I could pick up the needle to start again. I'm still often like that in troubled times, I have learned to deal with it by choosing simple patterns when I am stressed, which I can stitch on until I feel more confident again.
Here he is in all his glory.
Great wizard! It looks really good for you being a newbie at the time. So sorry this piece has such sad memories attached to it though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Faith, actually it's actually now become a symbol of what we survived together, so it actually became (after I got past restarting) a very positive piece for me.
DeleteI am glad that you were able to turn that around and look at it in a positive light.
DeleteThanks for taking part in The People's Choice this month.
ReplyDeleteI really like this Wizard and what is has come to mean to you, despite the difficult times you went through when you were stitching him.
I have a sampler that my Mum started and got halfway through when my brother became very ill. She couldn't bring herself to finish it and passed it to me to complete.