Knots

I can stitch a French knot. 

This isn't remarkable, not really. Most seasoned embroiderers can stitch a French knot. Hell, most beginner embroiderers can do a French knot. I, however, have never been able to do them. I've been embroidering for almost 15 years, and it's one of those stitches that I could never grasp. I tried different techniques, but my practice knots were a big old mess. So I avoided French knots when I would create a piece. I learned ways to fake it, and my embroidery didn't suffer because I couldn't make a knot. Most people I make things for don't know what a French knot is, so it's fine. I can make a really beautiful piece with a back stitch, split stitch, and some cross stitches. 

Then I had an idea. Back in February, I asked my friend Kelly if she'd like to try an art experiment. I wanted to see what my embroidery would like over a painting. I don't paint, but Kelly is a gifted painter. I thought it would be fun to collaborate on something, and see if this would work. Embroidering on paper is one of my favorite things, but I had only done small scale work before (cards, little experiments in my sketchbook). Kelly agreed to try it out, and I gave her free reign over the subject and no timeline. Whenever she got to it would be fine. I was in no hurry to do anything. 

Well, of course, the universe has a way of making things happen. As we both stayed at home like good citizens, we had more time to devote to creative projects. By the end of April, I had four paintings in my house, waiting for me to embroider. Two landscapes and two florals. The second I opened the package I knew one thing: I would have to learn how to stitch a French knot. The flowers demanded French knots. And I didn't want to disappoint them. 

I taught myself how to embroider in 2006. I had finally come back to New Orleans after evacuating from Hurricane Katrina. I wrote about my post-K experiences in New Orleans at the start of the pandemic; there are a lot of parallels between the two experiences. It's not the same, but it's not not the same. One of the reasons I picked up embroidery was that I needed something to do in the evenings, in the quiet. Things weren't open, especially not when I first came back right after Thanksgiving. Most of my friends weren't back or weren't coming back, so I spent a lot of time alone. Work was weird (this is an understatement) and often mentally exhausting. Curfews were in place and the National Guard was still in town to help maintain order/peace/whatever. It was and wasn't New Orleans. Teaching myself to embroider gave me something to do that didn't require anyone else to be around, and I had everything I needed to make stuff, so I didn't have to go out. 

Keep in mind this was 2006, so while the internet was a big part of all of our lives, it wasn't what it is today. There weren't hundreds of YouTube channels devoted to embroidery. Sublime Stitching, the design studio where I bought my first kit, was one of the few companies around. The first kit included transfer patterns (I still have many of them), a hoop (still use it), a stitching guide, and some fabric to get started. Most of the basic stitches, back stitch, split stitch, stem stitch, were relatively easy to pick up. If you can do those three, you can embroider. I would eventually add chain stitch, satin stitch, and various techniques for the leaf stitch to my stitch repertoire. Some of my stuff was good, some of it was a hot mess. I embroidered postcards, place mats, pillowcases, bar towels, cloth napkins. I made gifts for people (I doubt they use any of it) and I made things for myself (I used everything until it fell apart). Embroidery kept me grounded in a time when nothing worked the way it was supposed to and everything was sad all the time.  

Since then, I've embroidered when I had time or the mood struck me. A few years ago, I started Wine & Crafts Day with some friends, and I used that time to embroider when I wasn't working on glitter purses. But I didn't challenge myself. It was all stuff I could do without thinking much - just pick the thread colors and stitch away. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not particularly fulfilling as a hobby or as art. 

When stay at home orders began, I was working on my first commissioned piece. The wife of one of my co-workers saw the Tiger Stadium piece I made for my brother and asked me to make one for her. Once I finished that piece at the end of March, I needed to keep going. Once again, embroidery was filling the time I would normally have been out doing other things or commuting. The Tiger Stadium piece is my own design, so I decided to do more of my own patterns. I did one for Mardi Gras. I started designing embroidered postcards. And then there were the paintings. I needed to work on the paintings. 

Which brings me back to the French knot. My embroidery library has grown quite a bit since 2006. I decided to try one of my newer books, Edgy Embroidery, first before trying a YouTube video. I don't know if it was the visual guides in the book or author Renee Rominger's "you can do it" style of writing, but for whatever reason, the stitch finally clicked for me. I stitched a French knot. 

I can't even begin to tell you how incredibly satisfying it was to make these first three French knots. Fourteen years! Maybe I needed the muscle memory of 14 years worth of other stitches to finally make this happen. I don't know. I have no idea how the brain actually works. Thankfully, my brain decided to fully embrace the French knot. Not only can I stitch knots on fabric, but I figured out how to do them on paper. Carefully. 

Armed with my new stitch knowledge, I designed the stitch patterns for the two floral painting, including lots of French knots. I needed to make up for 14 lost years with no French knots. Making French knots is soothing. I know most embroiderers hate them, but do them anyway since they add texture and dimension to a piece. But I really love them. I feel about French knots the way some people feel about yoga - relaxed and quiet. French knots quiet my brain. 

Since finishing the paintings, I've started incorporating French knots in other projects too. I did a few kits recently, and was excited to see French knots included. 

I'm working on my first embroidered portrait and it has French knots. I took a little artistic license and made the knots a little smaller than the pattern indicated. I'm mildly obsessed with the result:

I have a bunch of projects to work on once I finish the portrait, and one of them is a project made entirely of  French knots. I made my own pattern, and plan to use shades of orange and pink to fill in the design. If I like it, I plan to make this pattern into a series with some additional touches. If I don't like it, well, I'm going to like it. It's French knots in orange and pink. I didn't know I needed French knots in orange and pink until I was sitting at home for the 40th or 50th day in a row and finally figured out how to stitch a French knot. 

Thank you Jenny Hart (of Sublime Stitching) for teaching me to embroider 14 years ago (not in person, but you know what I mean) and thank you Renee Rominger for teaching me how to make a French knot. And thank you Kelly for agreeing to try this whole painting/embroidery experiment that "forced" me to learn the French knot. I look forward to our next collaborative piece, whatever that may be.

Who knew tiny stitches would help me find some level of control in an otherwise chaotic universe?

Stay safe. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Be nice to one another. Vote. Black Lives Matter. 

Stuff I Love: Wine & Crafts

A few weeks back, I took a Gallup Strengths coaching workshop for work. I use the assessment in one of the programs I manage at work and took the workshop to help deepen my knowledge of strengths-based development so I can expand what we're doing with the assessment in the programs. One of the activities we did was an exercise focused on what we value and how those values are evident in our top strengths. The top value for me? Creativity. I worked with my partner to discuss creativity in my work and personal life and it was the sort of satisfying conversation that always seems to happen at these types of workshops. I always get all excited about the way I'm going to bring the knowledge back, both professionally and personally. Then go back to my life and forget everything and question my life choices and ennui settles in and I'm like, "What happened?"

Thankfully, that didn't happen this time. I haven't completely figured out what I want to do with the assessment in my programs, but I haven't lost that feeling I got when talking with my coaching practice partner about creativity. If anything, I've spent more time thinking about this since the workshop thinking about creativity and bringing that more into my life than I've thought of anything else. Creativity is a skill and a talent. It's focused on using imagination to create and solve things. People often mistake creativity for artistic talent; the two aren't the same. You can be creative and not artistic and you can be artistic and not be creative. Artists who are also creative are probably better artists, but the two are not synonymous. Creativity is about problem solving and thinking differently about the way things are done. It can manifest in art and crafts, but it doesn't have to.

I have some artistic talent; I can sew, embroider, write, and paint. Remember that time I made a Lego purse? I'm not a great painter and never will be, but I enjoy the process and the feeling of painting. I enjoy embroidery more, so I tend to stick with it when I want to have both a creative and artistic outlet. There's something truly magical about bringing a new project into the world. I'm mostly self-taught when it comes to embroidery and I'm constantly impressed by what I'm able to create with a few stitches and some fun patterns. Since the Women's March last year, there's been a flood of feminist embroidery and cross-stitch patterns on the market. There's something very therapeutic about stabbing fabric over and over again and have it become a "Nasty Woman" wall hanging or a "Girl Power" patch. It's also a nice connection back to our feminist and suffragist foremothers, who used crafts, sewing and needlework in particular, to hand make signs and sashes in the early suffrage and equality movements.

Back in the spring, when I was laid off and felt terrible about life, my friends did an excellent job of helping me stay positive and focused on doing fun things so I wouldn't drown in the pool of horrible that a job search often becomes. One April afternoon, Emily came over to watch movies and hang out. She brought a crochet project she was working on with her (she was making me a Franken-blanket, her specialty). I had a cross-stitch project I was working on. We sat on my couch, drank wine, and watched the mini-series version of IT and sewed and crocheted the afternoon away. Anita came by later in the afternoon, bringing her own cross-stitch project with her. As we all sat and worked and talked, we decided to start a monthly crafting/project day. Wine and Crafts Day was born. We've met once a month since September. Hosting duties rotate among the group and we've added a few additional people into the mix. There's no requirement of having to know how to do any type of craft or art project; we've all informally agreed to teach people new skills if they want to learn.

My first Zakka embroidery project.

It's been a great way for me to bring my friend groups together and be around a group of women who laugh and create and have fun. It's nice to not have an agenda; so much of all of our lives are based on agendas and to-do lists and calendars. I'm a planner, but even I can't deal with being scheduled to death. I know scheduling is a necessary thing, but I have a dream of one day not living by my calendar. We even got Anita hooked on Stranger Things and Chief Hopper; she was not disappointed.

In addition to being able to focus on various embroidery projects, I've also rediscovered my love of hosting gatherings. I don't know when I stopped having dinner parties, but I'd forgotten how much fun it is to plan the food and set everything up in a welcoming way. This isn't nearly as involved as a dinner party, but it's nice to have an excuse to try out fondue recipes (happening today) or bake a new recipe or roll out an old favorite. I spend a lot of time by myself, which is both good for me (and my introverted nature), but also something I need to occasionally remember not to do. There is such as thing as spending too much time alone. I don't spend time during our monthly gatherings writing, but I know that each one has helped me get back into my novel and given me the much needed kick in the pants to finish it and put it out in the world. Soon, friends, soon.

It's almost time for the group to gather and get started on our projects and eat some fondue. I'm not sure the cheese fondue is going to be good, but there's always chocolate fondue to save the day!

Today's project - another Zakka project. This one is going to be framed and hung in my living room.

Coming in March: It's Women's History Month! Whatever will we talk about for an entire month dedicated to women and their achievements? Check it out all month long!