Another Stitching Meme: Are you a stitching snob?

Every now and then I get the urge to interview other stitchers on a variety of topics, if for no other reason than to see how far beyond the realm of reason I have strayed.  Recently, on a board I had frequented, I was labelled an "elitist".  Now, I am okay with that.  Push comes to shove, I'd far rather be called an elitist than a moron.  But it has started me wondering.  Am I a stitching snob?  I know I am a tea snob and I have heard it said that I am an intellectual snob ... usually when I am being finicky about grammar, historical accuracy or the quality of television programming.  But I have been pretty careful not to betray my stitching biases on boards and in chat rooms, especially those with large memberships in which you will find every level of skill and taste..

So here goes, a few questions to determine whether one is a stitching snob:

1. Do you subscribe to SANQ and read it cover to cover? [n.b.: a true snob does not need a translation of the acronym].  Yes, I do.  I have even stitched several designs from its pages.
[Give yourself 5 points if you subscribe and read cover to cover, 3 points if you subscribe, 1 if you know what SANQ stands for but don't subscribe, and 0 if you neither subscribe nor know what SANQ stands for.]

2. Do you own books about the history of the needle arts, reference books on special stitches and/or sampler motifs, ethnic stitching traditions, etc.?  How many books are in your library?  Yes.  At least 2 dozen or more.
[Give yourself 1 point for every book in your library]

3. Do you belong to ANG or EGA?  EGA
[Give yourself 5 points for each organization you belong to.]

4. Do you prefer to stitch on Aida or evenweave or linen?  I prefer linen but have used evenweave.  I rarely use Aida.
[Give yourself 5 points for linen, 3 points for evenweave and 1 point for Aida]

5. If linen, do you prefer 28 ct, 32 ct, 36 ct or 40 ct?  I usually stitch on 32 and 36 ct but I have some 28 and 40ct in stash.
[Give yourself the following points for linen you have in stash: 5 points 40 ct, 4  for 36 ct, 3 for 32 ct and 1 for 28ct.  This could add up quite nicely if you have linen in a variety of counts]

6. Do you prefer to stitch over one or over two?  I'll do either just as happily.
[Give yourself 5 points for over one and 3 points for over two or 6 points if you do both.]

7. Have you ever stitched on 60 ct gauze?  Yes.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

8. Do you own a laying tool?  Yes.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

9. Do you use your laying tool?  Rarely.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

10. Do you prefer to stitch with DMC/Anchor cotton, overdyed cottons, silks or overdyed silks?  I'll stitch with any and every fiber but I adore silk.
[Give yourself 5 points for silks of any kind, 3 points for over dyed cotton, 1 point for DMC/Anchor]

11. Have you ever used exotic fibers like bamboo, velvet, leather, silk ribbon, wool/silk blends or other specialty fibers?  Yes, I love using all sorts of fibers and specialty floss.

[Give yourself 5 points you own 10 or more different specialty fibers and 3 points if you own 9 or less, and 0 points if you don't own any]

12. Do you know how to railroad your stitches?  Yes.
[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

13. Do you have a private list of designers you think are terminally cute and to be avoided like the plague?  Most definitely.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

14. Do terms like "diagonal Queen stitch", "Rhodes Heart stitches" and the like fall trippingly off your tongue? Yes, I enjoy doing complex and interesting stitches.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

15. Do you design some of your own projects?  Yes.  I have designed about a dozen of my own projects over the past few years.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

16. Do you gravitate toward designers like Teresa Wentzler, Miribilia, Ink Circles, Whispered in the Wind or other purveyors of the big and complex charts?  One can never have too many Teresa Wentzler projects on the go.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

17. Do you turn pale when confronted with a chart that has more than 4 pages of graph and even more pages of accompanying instructions?  No.

[Give yourself 5 points for No and 0 points for Yes.]

18. Do you distinguish between projects that are heirloom quality and stuff that you've stitched for fun or for seasonal decorating?  Absolutely, not everything I stitch is meant to be passed down through the generations with awe and reverence.  Some of it is for fun in the here and now.  Not everything has to be high art.
[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

19. Do you use a stitching stand?  Yes, for some of my larger projects.

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

20. Do you stitch two handed?  When I am using a floor model stitching stand, I do.  But not when using lap stands and table stands.  It just doesn't seem comfortable.                     

[Give yourself 5 points for Yes and 0 points for No.]

SCALE
100+ to 85:  You are certainly a serious and experienced stitcher.  There may be a hint of snobbery in there though most reasonable folk would call it justifiable pride!
84 to 65:  You are a competent stitcher with a fairly broad frame of reference and probably eager to learn more about this fascinating craft.  But not yet a snob.
64 to 45:  You are no longer a novice.
44 and less: You haven't yet had the time or the opportunity to explore all the facets of this wonderful craft..

Well, there you have it.  Just a few questions about topics that seem to be touchstones in determining, at least for some, elitism or snobbery or whatever as it relates to stitching.  So, are you a stitching snob?  If you'd like to leave a comment with your score, I'd enjoy seeing the range.

My score: 117.

Another Stitching Meme

I found these questions on Stitch Bitch's blog and thought it might be fun to answer them myself.
1)   Which fabric do you most prefer? 36 ct and 40 ct linen, though if a design is charted for 28 or 32 ct, I will work with it 

2)   What is your favorite fabric count? It depends on the design and on my end game!  I have been known to stitch something designed for 28ct on 40 ct if I want to reduce the size dramatically ... and vice versa.

3)   What color fabric do you most enjoy stitching on? Mostly neutrals for samplers but I stitch a lot of fantasy charts that tend to look better against an over dyed green [suggesting forests] or an over dyed grey [suggesting a winter sky] or an over dyed blue [suggesting skies].  And I do like the dramatic punch that comes from stitching on black linen but the design has to be right.

4)   What is your favorite fiber? I love silk for most stitching but I admit to loving all the glitzy specialty fibers as well when working on ornaments.  Wools and wool blends for needlepoint, over dyed cottons for a lot of my cross stitch projects.  It really depends on what I am working on.

5)   How many of the 450 DMC Colors do you own?   All but the newest releases from this past Fall.

6)   Of your last five projects—how many used DMC/Anchor as the main floss? One.

7)   Of the last five projects, if you didn’t use DMC/Anchor—what did you use? Over dyed cotton floss from GAST, Week's Dye Works and Crescent Colors.

8)   What needles do you prefer? 28 Bohin and 28 Piecemaker tapestry needles since they are both slim enough to serve as beading needles for petite seed beads.  I like John James 28 petites for the same reason.

9)   What is the UGLIEST design you’ve encountered? I can't be bothered remembering such things.

10) What is the most BEAUTIFUL design you’ve encountered? I have stitched many Teresa Wentzler designs and would be hard put to decide which was the most beautiful.  I have also stitched a Sweetheart Tree Christmas Sampler, Holly and Hearts, that I thought quite lovely.  And then I have seen some gorgeous work at the Show & Tell sesions of retreats and on blogs that I read.  Impossible to pick just one.  And anyway, why would I ever stitch something I didn't think beautiful or clever or appealing in some way.

11) Who is your favourite designer?  Depending on my mood, Teresa Wentzler,  Prairie Schooler, Victoria Sampler, Primitive Needle, Sue Hillis, Cedar Hills, Dragon Dreams and at least half a dozen others.

12) Least favourite designer? Anything saccharine sweet or involving teddy bears, Precious Moments, cartoons, or self-conscious cuteness, etc.  But specific designers:  Brooks Designs, Lizzie Kate and their ilk

13) Will you/would you support a designer whose personal beliefs offended/angered you? Personally, I am not offended or angered by the sincerely held belief systems of others, except in extreme cases like hate groups such as Neo-Nazis or White Supremacists or the Westboro folks.  I tend to be a live and let live sort.  For that matter, I can't say I have a clue about the belief systems of any designers whose work I stitch.

14) Do you have a lamp especially made for needleworkers/crafters? Yes, I have a Brite Lite.

15) What brand of stitching lamp do you have/prefer? It's not so much the brand as the lamp.  I miss my old table top Ott with magnifier and lamp in one.  I will have to replace it as my Brite Lite is too much of a light weight, always tipping over at the slightest tap.  Ultimately, I'd like to get a Dazor floor lamp with magnifier.

16) What kind of environment best suits you when you are stitching? I like my straight back wooden chair with cushions supporting my spine. It is set up next to my book case and with a small table in my living room.  I generally watch DVDs while stitching.

17) Have you stitched any design more than once? Yes, a few ornaments or smalls for exchanges.

18) Favourite design you have stitched and finished?  This is a tough one: some of my samplers or one of my dragons or faeries.  I don't have an answer, off the top of my head ... so, I guess that means I don't have a favorite.

19) Least favourite design you’ve stitched and finished? A design featuring a shed wall covered with lobster buoys that I stitched for my husband.  Second runner up: a design of a cat entangled in toilet tissue that I stitched at the specific request of my husband who assured my sister-in-law that I'd be "happy to stitch it for her".  He now knows not to make promises he can't keep! 

20) Last, but not least, what’s your longest running WIP? My last BAP, Teresa Wentzler's Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking took 17 months of intermittent stitching.  I think the Teresa Wentzler Autumn Faerie took nearly as long.

Tag, You're It

Eva tagged me and asked me the 11 questions below.  I need to answer them, then write up 11 questions of my own, and tag 11 people so they can answer them.  Here goes!

1.  Where is your favorite place to stitch?  In my good old oak straight back chair in front of the TV ... unless, of course, I am on vacation and then it's in a wicker chair on a terrace/porch/lawn overlooking a lake/river/ocean!

2.  What is your favorite shop (brick and mortar or on-line) to purchase your supplies?  Stitchery Row in Endicott, NY [Brick & mortar] and 123 stitch [on-line]

3.  What is your favorite specialty stitch?  Queen's Stitch - they are so pretty and a challenge!

4.  Which specialty stitch do your least enjoy?  any ribbon embroidery stitches ... mainly because it wounds my ego that I can't come up with consistently well made stitches.

5.  French knot, colonial knot or Mill Hill knot?  French knot!

6.  How much stitching time to do get per day or week or month?   I try to stitch an average of 1-2 hours per day

7.  Do you keep a stitching journal and if so, what do you include?  I used to do so but then blogging replaced the need for a journal ... and with pictures, too.

8.  Besides counted cross stitch, what other forms of needlework do you do?  Crewel, embroidery, counted canvas, and hardanger.  I can crochet and quilt and barely knit too, but haven't done any of that that in a long time!

9.  When did you start stitching?  and why?  I started with needlepoint in my early twenties and just went crazy from then on.  I love all textile arts.  I even tried to learn to weave and still have a table-top four harness loom that I will resurrect in my retirement for a second attempt.  My first attempts tended to produce place mats that were 14" wide at one end and 6" wide at the opposite end

10.  Do you rotate your stitching projects or are you a 'one-at-a time' stitcher?  Had you asked me that a month ago, I would have said rotate.  But I am going through one of my "one-at-a-time" jags at the moment, stitching exclusively on Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie for the past two weeks.  Sometimes, a project just grabs me by the throat and won't let go.  In the past, it has almost always been a Teresa Wentzler project that has that effect.  Though, three or four years ago, I spent all of January and February stitching four Sue Hillis "charmed" Santas one after another ... it was the stitching equivalent of chain-smoking.

11.  How many UFOs, and WIPs do you have?  I am in the middle of my year of the UFO Challenge: the Class Projects.  A quick glance at my sidebar will reveal just how many class projects I have started and then abandoned as something flashier caught my eye.  The sad thing is I truly want to finish all but one of these projects and really enjoyed the classes.  Hence I shall work doggedly till I have finished them all.  This may take a year or two, since class projects tend to be BAPs.

Now for my own questions:

1.  Do you enjoy designing projects of your own?  Over the past few years, I have become something of an amateur designer.  Sometimes, it's because I am inspired by a technique or a stitch I have discovered [as was the case with my Fertile Circles Needlebook WIP] or a found object [as was the case with my Beach Find Pansies using oyster shell fragments as the center of the pansies] or just the need to make frugal use of scraps of linen and floss [as in my Riona's Bookmarks design] and sometimes, it's because what I want isn't commercially available [as with some of my Quaker ornaments for my Bride's Tree series].  And at other times, I re-design a chart to make it more my own.  This usually happens with samplers: changing borders, switching motifs, replacing the text.  While I will never be a player on the commercial scene, I do manage to amuse myself.

2.  How often do you find yourself swapping out fibers:solid for overdyed, silk for cotton, etc.?  Very very often.

3.  Do you enjoy using "different" specialty fibers, e.g.: bamboo floss, velvets, silk ribbons, metallics and the like?  For ornaments and such I like a little glitz, so bring on the metallics, the braids and petite velvets.  And for samplers and small seasonal pieces, I really love the soft sheen of bamboo floss, that is when I am not using my favorite silks.

4.  Have you ever stitched on fabrics "outside the box"?  As a seamstress as well as a needleworker, I find I will sometimes use a "sewing" fabric  for needlework, usually gauzes or dressmaking linens or cotton broadcloths [thank God for Ott Lites with magnifiers] or even on burlap and screening. 

5.  Is there any form of needlework that, try as you might, you can't quite master?  For me, ribbon embroidery is always a hit or miss affair.  I frog more than I stitch.

6.  Are there other textile arts on the horizon that you want to explore?  Absolutely: weaving, spinning and knitting.

7.  Is it really necessary to have more than a dozen pairs of embroidery scissors?  Again, absolutely, I feel about scissors the way most women seem to feel about shoes and handbags.

8.  What is your favorite non-framing finish?  That's a tough one.  I make many small seasonal pieces into tote bags.  But I also love small pin pillow or bean bag finishes.  And then there are biscornus.  And I invested in that wonderful scrap booking tool, the Crop-a-dile, so I could make the eyelets in floss tags more neatly.  And what could be more satisfying than a beautifully centered flat finish ornament?  

9.  Do you select your vacation destinations based on the locations of needlework shops and tea shops?  Though this is my husband's deeply cherished belief about me, the truth of the matter is that I always research LNS' and tea shops in the area after he has selected the destination.  Is it my fault that I can almost always find some?

10  If you could plan the very finest of stitching cruises, what would it be like?  Mine would be aboard the American or the Mississippi Queen steamboat and stops would include the American Quilting Museum in Paducah, Kentucky as well as stops at various sites that had impressive displays of needlework throughout American history.  We might start in Kentucky and wend our way to the Mississippi River and from there on to St. Paul.  I  would have several instructors on board so that there would be something for everyone, from wet behind the ears novice to the most snooty elitist.  I would concentrate on North American forms of needlework, both historical and contemporary.    And the food would have to be superb and there would be a three or four course tea served every afternoon and the night-life would revolve around rag-time piano bars and jazz combos.  I would dispense with gambling ... after all who would want to risk losing their stash money?  I might even invite Monica Ferris to stage a stitching mystery night a la the Betsy Devonshire novels one evening.

11. How many stitching blogs do your read daily?  There are about 30 blogs on my reading list but of course, not everyone posts every day, so I would guess I read about ten a day.

BONUS QUESTION. What is your favorite needlework related website?  Mine is the Caron site.  They have such interesting articles about textile articles, beautifully archived.  I do love their projects and free charts.  It is such a dense site with so many menu options that you can easily pass an hour or two on the site before you know it.

Well, that does it for my own questions, now to find someone who hasn't already been tagged and ask them all these questions.