Thursday, November 4, 2010

A Gift and a Question

I won a give-away on my friend Moonsilk Stitches' blog, this very nice felted acorn. I love the color! I have already worn it twice.



IMG_0202



The pets in our house like it too. It has been carefully inspected by both cats and dog, and had to be rescued from becoming a cat toy.


The Question of the Month this month is "Is there a time you were very grateful for your needlework ability." I'm afraid I'm paraphrasing a little, but the question stuck with me because the answer is a resounding yes.

I recently mentioned the help the crewel sampler was when my living situation was difficult in high school, but there is a more important time. When I was going through treatment for breast cancer, sometimes my stitching was the only thing that kept me going. Some days it was the only reason to get up in the morning, besides taking care of our daughters. Of course, there were days when I could not do it, when I was too tired to even watch TV, but most of the time stitching was a wonderful escape. It was also a life saver when I was in doctor or hospital or lab or radiation waiting rooms. I spent a lot of time in those places, but when I had my stitching, I didn't mind at all, I was accomplishing something positive.

During that time period, (the first half of 1992) I completed a major project every 3 weeks or so. When real life started back up, I continued with the mind-set that I would be needing new projects that frequently for quite a while, and was frustrated when I couldn't get to the new things I wanted to stitch. I am more likely to need 3 years for a project now, but I still remember the sense of accomplishment.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Monday I had my last radiation treatment for breast cancer, and I agree with you - stitching was a life saver. For a period, after surgery and during chemo, I couldn't stitch and I took to reading three to four books a week. But, once I got my brains a body more together, I have started producing much more stitching. And it does feel so good with a sense of accomplishment. It seemed, at times, they would call me back for an appt or a treatment faster than I wanted them too - LOL!!

Moonsilk Stitches said...

I sure was thinking it this past week--I never realized how much I moved around and was up and down until now that I have to move with crutches. Last week I was so tired, I just sat and stitched and knit and read (I'm rereading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander). I would have gone nuts wihtout the embroidery to do. (I have a purse project that goes to all the doctor appointments with me, too.)