I was going through a drawer in an old four-drawer storage unit that got dragged out of my closet when I was making room for Bob's stuff, and we all know how fun going through old drawers can be! I found movie ticket stubs from when matinee prices were $4.50, a couple of old concert ticket stubs (Dimmu Borgir, Type O Negative, Dropkick Murphys... so much fun!), notes for stories had started writing years ago, boomarks, cards from my 21st birthday, old photos... and among the many other exciting relics of my past, I found an old cross stitch kit that I had started years and years ago.

It was an underwater scene, stitched on dark blue aida cloth. I immediately picked it up and tried to resume where I had left off. I quickly discovered that my younger, less competant self, had made multitudes of mistakes. If I wanted to do that undersea pattern, my best bet would be to simply get a new piece of aida cloth and start over.

So I put it away.

BUT.

Cross stitching was not to leave my mind so quickly!

It's not very often that I get really into the "womanly" arts. I crochet sometimes. As proof I have made several enormous granny square blankets. And by "enormous granny square" I don't mean lots of normal sized granny squares put together, I mean one enormous granny square. Because that's all I know how to do. ^_^ All three enormous granny square blankets are hideously ugly... which I did on purpose. Yes, I found the ugliest yarn that would clash the most and made blankets out of it. I have dubbed them "The Ugly Blankets". They are awesome. But the point is I'm not a real handwork kind of girl.

Anyway, the idea of cross stitching stuck in my head for a whole hour or so until Bob and I ran off to Michael's to find cross stitching kits. We found a bin of teeny tiny ornament sized cross stitch kits on clearance for $1, so we grabbed one that featured a little chipmunk and two bees. Then we got a bigger but still small/beginner level kit that featured a ridiculously cute little kitten hanging from a tree branch with the words "Hang In There!" on the bottom. Yes, we've now moved past motivational posters to motivational cross stitch projects.

I successfully completed the chipmunk. It's hanging on my bulletin board until I can find a teeny tiny frame for it. And hell yes I'm framing it. It's a huge accomplishment! I've been working hard on the kitten, and I'm maybe close to halfway finished. And it looks fantastic! Woot for my new favorite hobby!





The photo is the "Hang 0n Kitty" stock image from the Michael's website.