Distracted Stitching

I’m tremendously distracted these days. Other things are taking my mind off stitching and making it difficult for me to work or think.

They are even making it hard to stitch anything. That’s bad because, as always, I have stitching work to do.

We all go through times where we’re distracted or upset and needlepoint can help us through that. Needlepoint helps on several levels.

The repeating motion of needlepoint helps create a relaxed meditative state. By occupying part of our mind and hands it also creates a distraction. By stitching, especially if it’s a UFO, you are accomplishing something. Every bit of stitching is something positive you’ve accomplished, something good you can point to even if you are not making progress elsewhere.

You may think that you have nothing in you UFO’s and WIP’s that will help with this, but you do. I used to call this “mindless needlepoint,” but that’s too restrictive. What you want is to do something you know so well that you can do it automatically, this giving your brain that time to relax and rest.

Here’s my list of the kind of projects that work well for me.

• All Tent Stitch projects – you know how to stitch this
• Line Bargello patterns with at least one line stitched – just follow along and keep the color sequence straight
• Backgrounds you know really well – you don’t have to save the background for last

I have a lovely background and a Tent Stitch project that need stitching, so I’m hoping they will do the trick.