iStitch - Getting Started

Now, as a teenager I didn't stitch that much, after all it was hardly 'cool.' But once high school ended I found myself drifting a little aimlessly. My first semester of college was really rather miserable, the only bright spots being my two new friends, a pair of bubbly and outgoing blonds named Shannon and Karen (who would eventually come to be know as the H.O.P.S.F.).

Now, I met Shannon first. We hit it off on our first day of a 1000 level History class and became instant compatriots. Shannon was funny, friendly, helpful and she cross stitched! She also had a boyfriend, a member of our on campus cadet program, who also happened to cross stitch. As I spent time with Shannon and her significant other the cross stitch itch turned up. I found myself picking up simple little 'throw away' projects at the local Wally so that I could sit around stitching with my friends.

But, since freshmen year was far from sunshine and flowers, I tended to find myself wandering the halls of the dorm for hours on end, restlessly pacing in what I now recognize as frustrating homesickness. On one of these rambles, as I shuffled past an open dorm room door, I heard a quiet voice call out after me.

"Would you like to watch a movie with me?"

I peered into the dim depths of a dorm room and encountered a petite blond, sitting on her upper bunk and staring at me pointedly.

"Umm...sure." (Brilliant reply on my part, don't you think?)

So I spent the next hour or so sitting on a lower bunk, silently watching a movie with a girl who would one day be one of my greatest friends, though I had no way of knowing it at the time. No, at that point I figured that she was just taking pity on someone who looked miserable and lonely. (Oh, and I found out years later that she was pretty miserable and lonely too...so maybe it was fate that we ran into each other...)

Now, what does all of this have to do with cross stitching? Well...nothing. But there is a point to this story and the point is this: it was during my freshmen year that I actually starting stitching as a hobby. It was a much needed outlet and one of the things that actually helped me make it through that miserable hell of a year.

This is The Neighborhood. I did not stitch this freshmen year...if fact most of what I stitched during college has either been given away or lost or who the heck knows! Mostly, I just don't have it anymore. This I stitched in 2001, and it was my first big project. What attracted me to this particular project is the houses. Every stitcher I've encountered tends to like specific subjects or designers or themes. I happen to like houses, doors, windows, and gates. I'm not sure what that says about me, but there it is.

This particular piece has a companion or sister piece called Golden Gate Avenue. Which I own...but have not yet stitched.