Yet more evidence of a strong correlation between math and needlepoint, as I have previously posted. In an article about the scarcity of females in the gaming development community, iPhone developer Quinn Dunki claims it is caused by peer pressure to conform to traditional female roles. Saith Dunki:

“The only difference between me and my maths-inclined, game-loving friend – who does advanced needlepoint instead of engineering – is that she succumbed to the peer pressure.”

All ye maths-inclined, game-loving engineering prospects out there: take a moment and explore Advanced Needlepoint. You will likely experience a life-altering epiphany that will set you on a new and fresh course of wondrous discovery for the rest of your life. You can thank me afterwards.

To reinforce the idea that engineering and needlepoint work well together, take a look at these works of art needlepointed by Michelle Ann Matthews (one of which appears at the top of this post), all of which use architecture and construction as the central theme. (Hat tip: Design Milk).

I’ve blogged about math-based needlework before. Now I came across Nimble Needle’s needlepoint that she designed based on a Hilbert Curve. Wow, simply elegant. Her use of color in this design is absolutely critical; a mono-color version couldn’t have captured it nearly as well.

Alphabets are a popular needlepoint theme, particularly for children’s rooms. Often they are adorned with objects, one for each letter of the alphabet. In the needlepoint pictured above, the artist chose 26 members of the animal kingdom to accompany each glyph.

Other times, each letter varies in style or geometric pattern. See these beauties by Felicity Hall:

The letter stitchings look great as pillows, too. They are always wildly colorful and cheerful.

Have a look at some of Pepita’s Alphabet Needlepoint canvas designs, located in the Kindergarten category. The canvas pictured below, called Alphabet Pictures, is unique in that it features only pictures of objects — one for each letter of the alphabet — but no alphabet!

Alphabet Pictures Needlepoint Canvas

This is a really fun piece for young and inquisitive minds. They’ll spend entire minutes trying to identify each object and its matching letter. Click on the image to buy it at our favorite online needlepoint canvas shop.

Needlepoint-kit-in-a-can: Burberry Barrette

We have developed a new line of products, and we’re calling it “I Can Needlepoint”. These kits are packed into these neat little cans, and contain everything you need to complete a stitched barrette or ponytail holder.

They come with canvas, needle, thread, stitch guide, finishing instructions, and hair accessory hardware.

Currently, you can buy them at this needlepoint store, where they set up separate categories for Barrettes and Ponytail Holders. Any other needlepoint shops looking to carry these cuties? They are easy and quick to finish, they’re inexpensive, and they look great – remember, needlepoint wearables are trendy again.

Is there anyone out there who wants to try them for free and post a review on their blog or website? Please leave a comment below, or send me email.

Clowns are a popular needlepoint theme. Pictured above is a sweet, tired-looking clown, which I discovered while browsing Twitter. A search on Etsy yields half a dozen others. Ebay lists a whole caboodle of cotton clowns at any point in time, such as this well-dressed jester:

Ebay Clown

Here’s a cartoony character from Flickr:

Check out Pepita Needlepoint’s collection of chucklers. Here’s a picture of finished piece Down Clown, a sad little happy guy, which was displayed at Kreinik’s booth at a recent show:

See more clown canvases by visiting Pointseller’s Surely You Jest collection.

Here is the first one, a flowery sort of bluey thing:

Oh, and with a Star of David right in the center.

Here’s another one, which I called “Burst“:

And indeed it is bursting with color.

The next one, “Spiral“, is designed with exactly that:

Don’t stare, you’ll get dizzy.

Finally, we have “Stripe“, “Starry“, and “Wild“:

I’m interested to see if there is any interest in Yarmulkas. I’ve never stitched or finished one myself. Perhaps I’ll give it a try. Express your interest by visiting the Yarmulka category at Pepita Needlepoint. And to buy one, go to Judaica Needlepoint’s Skullcaps category.

Do you have any original ideas for a Yarmulka design? I was once asked to design one with a beach theme. To match someone’s bathing suit, I suppose.

The first of these is a tad on the traditional side, with all the flowery silvery flourishes and stuff:

Flourish Tefillin Bag

Lots of room for a name on that one. I chose to depict it with the names of the famous Chida, since he’s got four of ‘em.

Next is the tefillin bag with a familiar-looking tartan design:

Tefillin Bag Camel Tartan

I dare not call it what it is *cough* Burberry *cough* or those lawyers will be after me in no time flat. Finally, here is the Argyle Tefillin Bag:

Tefillin Bag Argyle

Now that’s what I call an original design. Remember that all of these canvases can be customized with the name of the bar-mitzva boy, in either English or Hebrew or both.

Click on any of the images to be escorted safely to the product page of each of these. To purchase them, saunter on over to Judaica Needlepoint’s Tefillin Bag Category page.

The "Vineyard" Threadband

We’ve developed a new product that is picking up some momentum. It’s a needlepoint headband kit, which we’re calling “Threadbands”, and it contains everything you need to stitch and finish a headband.

Check out these beauties right here: Needlepoint Headband Kits. To buy them, ask your local needlepoint shop, or you can get them from Pointseller.com, under the Wearables section.

Needlepointed Book Cover

Remember those Jane Austin novels with awesome needlepointed book covers I covered a while back? Well, now take a look at these babies, and then you will have seen needlepointed awesomeness.

From my collection of “Coloring Book” style of designs, I bring to you “Doggie and Soldier”:

Doggie and Soldier

The pair of playthings have joined their friends in the Charming Illustration category. Next, I have “Banister”:

Banister

It will find a welcome home under my Home Sweet Home collection with all my other dandy decor depictions. After that, please join me in greeting “Beach Chairs”:

Beach Chairs

The perfect piece to stitch while relaxing in a beach chair under the brilliant sun. And now, introducing “Kitchen Utensils”:

Kitchen Utensils

As Benjamin Franklin once said, we need to all hang together. Last, we have “Shalom”:

And what a better way to end this blog post: Shalom, everyone!