Max

For all you avid Cross Stitchers out there, you will fully understand the stress and frustration of sorting floss colours when you purchase a kit. The chart will list the colour names and the number of strands you 'should' have for each colour. You sort and count and count and sort and hope to goodness that you were able to determine the difference between such colours as light grey blue from light blue grey.

Then as you happily stitch along you come to the realization that hmmmmm.... it seems like there is an awful lot of stitching left for the amount of floss alotted. So then you become very conscious of the length of floss you end your stitches with. I've even used the trick where you leave the floss out of the needle, poke the needle down through the material until the eye is just peaking through the hole and then you thread the needle and pull it through the rest of the way to complete and end the stitch. (Admit it, we've all done it.) Then after a few more rows of stitches, panic sets in when you realize 'OMG, I'm not going to have enough floss' and you race for your DMC colours to see if you can find anything remotely close to the colour you are using and where, within the pattern, you can blend it all in. This is why I am not partial to purchasing kits. And then I saw Max...

During one of our 'day trips' that we turned into a 'weekend trip', we ventured off to Port Huron, Michigan to check out Hobby Lobby, Mary Maxim and the likes. While shopping, I saw Max - on sale for less than $12.00. Pretty hard to pass that up, but it was a kit and I decided to leave well enough be. That night I couldn't stop thinking about Max, so the next day we went back to the store and I got him. A few days later, my daughter Holly and I attempted to sort the colours. We failed. Miserably. But I knew I could count on the group to help me out and I sent them the following email while I was totally frustrated. (The girls all laughed so hard when they received it that Tracey made sure she printed it out for each to keep a copy).

Before I go any further I should fill you in on a little story. We refer to a saying in our group when something makes us nervous or frustrated while working on a project. It stems from a childhood story of when one of our brothers - no names mentioned - would get upset because he had to practice writing out his multiplication tables over and over again until he had them memorized and he would say to his mom "... I have to stop, it's making my d*nk tickle". Well... the first time that story was told at a meeting we were all in hysterics; and it's just one of those sayings that stuck with us. We get alot of mileage with that one.

Here was my frustrated plea for help:

Gurrrrls

Holly and I tried to sort out the colours last night for my kitten cross stitch. Both our d*nks fell off !

I didn't copy the colours exactly, but this is what I'm dealing with:

Green

Light Green

Dark Green

Darkest Green

Darkest Light Green

Green Grey

Light Green Grey

Darkest Green Grey

Mossy Green Grey

Shuvit up your butt green grey

Darkest shuvit up your butt greenest greyest grey

Problem is: most of these colours -- there are 2 skeins each -- now do you understand why our d*nks fell off. ???

Can I get everyone's assistance at the next meeting puuuulllllllleeeeeessssse?

Of course everyone pitched in and we finally got all the colours in order. Max was completed in time to make it to the local fair and he won First Place Special. Max hangs on the wall directly across from my cross stitch chair and I think of this story each time I look up and see see him. Then I smile, because I am reminded of the wonderful friendship I share with these ladies and the years of stories ahead of us yet to come.

Bonnie