Needlepoint Apps

Barbara Bergsten recently blogged about ideas for needlepoint apps. I linked (above) to an app available on the Apple App store, which offers stitch diagrams, indexed by shape, name and thread count.

I had a few ideas for a needlepoint app, and instead of stuffing it all into a bloated comment I decided to do a full blog post here. A needlepoint app which could do the following things would be awesome:

  • Text Charter. This app would accept a string of text, such as “Happy Birthday Mom,” and would create a chart that shows how to stitch it. You would have a choice of fonts, text effects (like drop shadow or outline), spacing, and you would also specify the dimensions of the area in which it needs to fit. This would save a stitcher loads of time (anyone who ever needed to do this knows how time-consuming and error-prone it can be).
  • Thread Matcher. You snap a picture of a canvas using your phone with the onboard camera. The software would instantly inventory the colors used (up to a limit of, say 40), and then make suggestions of thread you can use to stitch it. You can control choices by fiber type, budget, and it would keep track of your previous projects so it matches thread from your stash. This app could make money by offering to purchase an entire thread ensemble on the spot.
  • Stitch Charter. Building on the previous item, you would use this app to select areas of the canvas, and designate which stitch you will use. You would choose from a little window of stitch choices, and drag the right one over to the canvas photo. Then the app would create a chart based on your selections, and it would also estimate how long it would take, based on your stitching habits and history.

I have some other ideas, but let’s get an enterprising developer started on these. The stitching world is waiting!

Give the Kid Her Pillow

Read this engaging blog post about a ten-year-old girl who stitched a needlepoint canvas, but didn’t quite get it right. She wants her Mom to spring for the finishing cost. Mother finds herself in a moral dilemma (basically the definition of motherhood).

What do you think? Should Mommy lay out the 50 bucks or so to make it into a pillow, imperfections and all? Should Mommy painstakingly rip out the stitching and show her how to do it right?

Hebrew Stitch Charts Prove Popular

A while back, I posted about my Hebrew Stitch Charts, available online at JudaicaNeedlepoint.com. That page has attracted a good deal of traffic. The charts have been downloaded close to 2000 times since then.

I was delighted to find this post by Faygie Fellig. where she describes how she used the charts to create a stunning sweater. I had no idea that needlepoint charts would be useful to knitters.

Support This Worthy Cause

 


Mr. Plath holds his partially completed canvas

One Stitch is a massive needlepoint project taken up by J. Argyl Plath. The actual adjective he uses is “preposterous”. It involves stitching up a 120×240 inch tapestry at 32 stitches per inch. This adds up to 18,526,240 stitches, according to his reckoning (although according to my own calculations, that should be closer to 30 million stitches, but why quibble). He is currently 0.03805% complete as of this posting. He estimates that it will likely take him the rest of his life to complete.

To finance this effort, he has put together a fundraising page on KickStarter.com, so that, in his words:

Your support helps me not only pay for the materials for each section, but also to afford to potentially scale back at work and have more time for the project.

The project has its own website at http://onestitchproject.com. Of course you’re all wondering how much the thread is likely to cost, but I don’t have the patience to do the math right now. If you would like to give it a try, he’s using DMC floss, and from the sound of it, he intends on using every color available. Please post your best estimate in the comment section!

J. Argyl Plath is also managing editor of the Dirty Napkin, a periodical featuring works of poetry and other writing.

Needlepoint Signs Attract Attention

Susannah Breslin, writing on the Forbes Blog, in a post titled “How to Get a Job Without Leaving the House,” writes about the unfortunate circumstances of Mr. Alex. He was out of a job, wanted one badly, but couldn’t get one no matter how hard he tried. Then he had a brainstorm:

That’s when he picked up the needlepoint kit, sewed the sign, and stuck it in the window. To see what would happen. Because the old way wasn’t working anymore.

Did it work? Well, it attracted Susannah’s attention, didn’t it?

And that’s when I turn my head and there in the window of the apartment I am walking past is a sign, and the sign says: Hire Me. I really need a job. Just yell up!

…as for the “Hire Me” sign, it is homemade and has been made out of needlepoint. Whoever is looking for a job had needlepointed their call for employment before propping it up in the window.

If you want to hire Alex, perhaps to do your stitching, you can email him at AlexWillTakeAnyJob@gmail.com.

Joyce O’Brien Stitches City Scenes

Two articles in the Des Moines Register this week featured the same needlework artist, Joyce O’Brien. Apparently a very patient and gifted stitcher, she created a depiction of city hall, complete with shiny gold rooftops. Follow the link to see it and read more about it.

In a separate article, the writer describes how it took Joyce over 600 hours to create this needlepoint landscape of the Des Moines skyline:

“It’s a very tedious process,” she said of the 3-by-2-foot picture, made from fine wool yarn. “It takes a long time, but I love to see the picture develop.”

O’Brien is currently showing off her work in a show at the Ankeny Art Center. If you’re in the area, definitely stop in for a look.

Needlepoint Chairs at Blair House in Washington D.C.

The national president of the American Needlepoint Guild, Pat Rogers, is pitching in to help restore faded needlepoint chair upholstery at the Blair House, the president’s guest house.

Among the home’s extensive furnishings is a wingback chair with needlepoint upholstery that originally was made by Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter-in-law. In time, the threads faded and became worn by use, and house conservators approached the American Needlepoint Guild in August 2010 about recreating the upholstery.

 

 

 

Places To Take Your Needle

The Franks, an Orthodox Jewish family of whom I am a proud member, reside at an intersection of country roads named “Wiener” and “Synagogue.” This was a curious enough coincidence to attract the attention of Oscar Meyer, the well-known purveyor of kosher hotdogs. They even offered a large sum of money to feature us in one of their marketing projects (we declined).

I’ve heard of similar fortuitous street names, such as the dentist who grew up on a street named Colgate, the brewery that opened in Brewster Court (an old carriage house built in 1894), and the man named Downing who opened an oyster place on a street already conveniently named Downing Street.

I was wondering the other day whether an avid needlepointer could be the subject of such a fortunate geographic placement, and after researching a bit I came up with the following:

Needle Point, Tahoe National Forest, California, a mountain peak. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia in an article about the forest. Deep snow persists through April.

Needle Point, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, an island cape. Photo is of a tourist attraction on the island.

Needle Point Drive, Guyton, Georgia, a small road.

Needle Point Drive, Cheboygan, Michigan, another small road off Mullet Lake. Above is a home for sale on the road.

Needle Point Court, Columbus, OH, an enclave in a busy neighborhood.

Needle Point Road, Evans City, Pennsylvania, a street in a green area of PA. Above 2-bedroom, single-family home on this street is selling for $159,000.

Attention Engineers: Try Needlepoint

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).

New Belts at Tucker Blair

A dynamic duo of designers, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, have teamed up with Tucker Blair, the needlepoint belt manufacturer extraordinaire. From the blog post at the New York Times:

Aiming to have you in stitches this summer, Opening Ceremony releases its first collection of needlepoint belts with Tucker Blair, the Washington-based purveyor of the classic preppy pant cinchers.