Hello from the UK

[Clive125]

Hi,

My name is Clive and I live in Spalding in Lincolnshire UK, my daughter introduced me to cross stitching while I was recovering from open heart surgery to while away the days and a needle was about the only thing I was allowed to lift. I found it so relaxing and therapeutic that I have carried on with it even though I have had to put up with some jibes from friends about a man doing sewing lol. Needless to say I don't let that get me down as I enjoy it so much gradually watching the stitched picture gradually come to completion. That being the case I thought I would find a forum so as to be able to say hello to other like minded people.

Clive

[karen4bells]

Hello Clive, and welcome to the forum!! It is great to have you join us here!! I hope you will enjoy our site and share some of your stitching projects with us!! Hoping that you have recovered nicely from your open heart surgery!!!

[Squirrel]

Hi Clive and Welcome from sunny but chilly Brisbane is great that you have joined us. You will find lots of help on here, as well as lots of enabling to gather more stash than you could ever imagine. Hope you have recovered completely from the heart surgery.

[fccs]

Hello, Clive - greetings from Colorado and welcome to the forum. I'm glad you not only found something to do while recovering, but that you stayed with it. I think cross stitch is very relaxing - therapeutic on many levels. What kinds of projects do you like to stitch? I hope you'll share pictures with us - we really like pictures.

There are other guys on the forum - you're not alone.

Again, welcome - and beware of the possibility of your stash increasing by leaps and bounds...there are many enablers here.

[MelindaH]

Hey, Clive. Welcome from across the pond in Indiana. I hope you are well recovered and that your heart doesn't give you any more trouble.
Don't worry. Lots of guys cross stitch. If your friends make fun of you, just show off the awesome stuff you can make that they can't.
Don't forget to post pictures! We all drool over progress pictures.

[lavenderbee]

Hello & welcome. Look forward to seeing your work when you have time. I cannot remember which film it was but Roger Moore sat either cross stitching or doing tapestry in one of his films so you are not alone I knew a retired army officer who did tapestry & he was excellent at it. So you & all the other men on here are in good company. Hope you enjoy it on here

[Clive125]

Hi,

Thank you all very much for the warm welcome to the forum. Hi to you too Debby, in reply to your question I like mostly wildlife and nature cross stitch patterns plus fantasy, at the moment I'm stitching "Celtic Angel" from the series by Barbara Baatz an "American School of Needlework" pattern.

Clive

[MelindaH]

Ooh, now I really have to see your work. I love wildlife patterns.

[rcperryls]

Hello and welcome to the forum from South Carolina! I also hope that you will post pictures of your work! I love Barbara Baatz designs and have done many of them. I stitched her fairies for an afghan for my oldest GD and have an angel afghan which again features many of her angels. They are a delight to stitch! And I would also love to see some of your wildlife designs. We have several men who are avid stitchers also so you can be very comfortable here. And as several others have warned, be aware that we are terrible enablers and will encourage you in acquisition of more stash, which is another favorite pastime around here.

Carole

[fccs]

Oh, I love animals so please share. And I just Googled Celtic Angel - holy moly, she's gorgeous!! I'm so looking forward to seeing your progress on her.

[Clive125]

Well Carole with regard to a stash, it has grown so much recently that I think I need to live for anothe 90 years or so to complete them all. I already have about a dozen or so kits and a drawer full of "Must make that" patterns.

Clive

[vanessanjf]

Hello and welcome I too would love to see some of your work

[ayna]

Clive,

First, a warm welcome,

Then, don't take any notice of others who think it is strange for a man to enjoy stitching; after all it is a creative activity and some of the most famous creative artists, in many fields, are/were male!! Some years ago I was travelling back into central London on the Tube, with a friend and my daughter, having been to the Olympia Knitting and Stitching show and got out my knitting ( a feather and fan scarf which I was doing on a circular needle). My friend didn't think I should be doing this on a train for fear of dropping stitches. Imagine my amusement when a man got on the train and promptly took out his knitting and proceeded to knit very fast indeed on a multi coloured piece!!

Thirdly, STASH. Beware if yours is already growing into a hobby in itself: the members of this forum are seriously good at what they refer to as 'enabling' others to want to acquire more and more!!

[Clive125]

Hi Ayna,

I bet that raised a few eyebrows, well I won't let my stash get any bigger as I want to get on with stitching what I have rather than collecting more that probably won't ever get started yet alone finished.

Clive

[FidoJann]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, but I'm hoping to meet lots of people who love crosstitch just as much as I do.
I live in the Midlands of UK. I've been stitching for as long as I can remember, I started designing too about 25 years ago, and sell my stitch kits online.

I love to stitch and design - every day brings a new challenge. I'm still learning, but if I can be of any help to anyone, I would love to hear from you.

Greetings from a sunny UK,
Jan

[richardandtracy]

Hi Clive,

Bloke from the UK just letting you know you're not alone.
I started stitching to be with the family & not outside getting cold in my unheated workshop in early 2011. It has gone from bad to worse since I started, particularly after joining this forum...

We'd love to see your progress photos.

Regards,

Richard.

[Nicola Main]

Clive and hope you enjoy the forum! So nice to see another man on here Looking forward to seeing your stitchy projects in the future. I wholeheartedly agree with you about it being therapeutic, I suffer from panic attacks and anxiety and I love delving into a current project and watching it develop as you go

[Squirrel]

Hi Clive and Welcome from me too its great that you have continued stitching and like most of us have acquired a good stash to keep you going for a while.


Hi FidoJan and Welcome to you too in chilly Brisbane its great that you too have found us. What sort of patterns do you design - not that I need any more stash but you never know do you.

[Allyn]

Welcome from the Mississippi Gulf Coast! Pictures! We want to see pictures of what you're working on.