How My Insomnia Lead to Improvised Cross-Stitch

I’m in the middle of a course of sleep therapy and it’s affecting everything, even my creative projects. I decided early in August that I wanted to make a cross-stitch sampler of sayings to help me remember important insights I’ve had about my writing process, so I got out my embroidery hoop, canvas, and floss. I made an effort to find graph paper with much smaller squares than normal, so I could chart my designs, because cross-stitching mottos requires planning. But does it?

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Scarf Made With Leftover Sock Yarn

Because knitting is my go-to relaxation hobby, I love having an easy project on my needles, something that I can pick up and work on while watching a movie or listening to a podcast. The knitting needs to be nearly automatic in nature, so I can split my attention between it and something else. But even my favorite patterns can get boring.

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Pandemic Project: Beaded Butterfly

Ever since March, I’ve felt like my brain isn’t working all that well. Something about the COVID-19 lockdown and the life changes that have gone with it has made it very hard for me to do things I would normally find only mildly challenging.

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Winging It: Embroidering a Kestrel

When I recently got the bug for embroidery, I got out my box of embroidery supplies, eager to do something with thread. Most of my past projects have been kits or patterns, giving me instructions to follow and taking all the decision-making out of the process. This time, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to experiment and decided it was time to wing it.

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