Why I Cross-Stitch
I learned to cross-stitch when I was young. While I am a “millenial”, I remember a pre-Internet time. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents who did not have cable - they had an antenna on the roof and if it was raining, you weren’t watching TV.
My grandmother sewed a lot and did simple embroidery and when I was old enough to be trusted with a needle, I took it up as well. I’m not quite sure how I learned to cross-stitch, but I remember falling in love with it and getting a new kit was like Christmas Day.
I never took the time to ponder why I loved it as a kid, but as an adult, I definitely know why I love it so much…
Why I cross-stitch:
It’s meditative.
In a world where there is so much “noise” around me, I need a way to decompress. Prior to having my baby, the outlet was exercise (weight-training and bodybuilding, mostly), but there were a lot of days that I just couldn’t muster the energy to power through a tough workout at the gym. Cross-stitching became my outlet.
It was a way to sit down quietly, listen to music or a podcast, and get lost in following a pattern. There have been many sessions where I will turn on my podcast or audiobook, start stitching, and before I even realize it, two hours have passed and I realize I wasn’t thinking about work or deadlines or bills - I was so entranced in the stitching, that my brain got a much needed rest.
I’m a goal-oriented person and I love accomplishing things.
My top CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) result is “Achiever”. There is nothing more rewarding to me than reaching a goal. Practically-speaking, the easiest way for me to describe myself is that I’m a “checklist” person — give me a list of things to do and I am intrinsically motivated to get it done so that I can “check the box”.
In my professional life, I work for software companies as a project/product manager; I don’t make “tangible” things. A majority of my job is spent talking to people - business stakeholders, developers, users. I spend most days in meetings and doing documentation. And in the world of software, things are never really “done”. For me, it can be an exhausting hamster wheel.
Cross-stitch is the exact opposite. You have a pattern and even if you only do one stitch, you have tangible evidence of what you did. Once I start a new pattern, I just can’t WAIT to finish it.
It’s a fun and unique hobby.
I don’t generally consider myself to be a “creative” person. But cross-stitch allows me to transform the work from someone else’s head (whoever made the pattern) and create something wonderful and beautiful.
I almost always create things for other people, so to be able to find something that is unique-to-them and to invest the time to stitch it for them is rewarding on so many levels. Not everyone cross-stitches, so it gives me the pride to know that a person is getting a unique gift from someone who loves them and it fulfills me for the reasons above.
Fellow stitchers, I would love to learn about you: Why do you cross-stitch?
