Stitching by Hand

It's winter. Short days. Chilly outside. Drafty in my basement studio. Being cold natured, I am not comfortable this time of year. It seems like no amount of clothing can compensate for the fact that it everything outside is frozen.

It is a transitional time for me. I've spent the past year renovating our commercial properties and that will be winding up shortly. This has been a week for medical stuff - other people - with me in the support role. I've been knitting to fill the time . . . a soothing repetitive, mindless task. A good thing to do in the waiting room, etc. But (hopefully) I am about done with waiting rooms and hospital rooms for a while.

All that time and energy spent on other things . . . It is time for me to begin some new work in the studio, but I am undecided about where or how to begin. I am yearning to do hand work - embroidery. The last piece I did with a lot of embroidery, Primitive Hearts (see it here) and hand work, and buttons was very satisfying and I know I want to do more along those lines.

With a little downtime, I found myself reading blogs this morning. I really enjoy Judy Martin's blog. She recently posted a wonderful entry about hand stitching that spoke to me. She was able to beautifully articulate the appeal of sewing by hand. Of hand stitching, Judy Martin wrote, " It's thoughtful. It's a repeated caress. It’s visible time." I know this is why I feel so compelled to take up the needle. I need the tactile time - and need to make it visible. It isn't just the fact that it is cold outside! Here is a link to Judy's entry related to hand stitching.

I have also been thumbing through Stitch Magic, with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn. These two people always produce intriguing work that inspires thought. Here is a link to the book on Amazon. While I admire this type of work, I don't think I am up to the densely stitched work usually done by these two. I don't see myself as an embroiderer. Rather, I think of embroidery as a layer of embellishment on my textile art.