The Beginning...

I grew up in a family where the craft was always present ... or crochet from my grandmother, or at tapestries and sewing  from my mother, or knitting and crochet from my aunts. I could spend hours and hours just watching how they did, but I never tried much in the area. I loved to release thread to help them ... I felt part of the project.

When I was 10 I tried knitting ... I made a pair of shoes for a cousin ... of course I had some help from a cousin - Terezinha - I still don't know how to increase stitches in the middle of a knitting work ... indeed .... knitting ... only scarves (LOL) Scarves... these are for another posting .... LOL

Crochet has always been a frustration ... left-handed ... there was no one to teach me (in spite of the fact that my mother is also left-handed, she was never crochet-friendly) ... I could only made chains ... Today I changed this situation ... but this is for another post ... LOL

Then  it came the cross-stitch in my family ... everyone had your project - mother, aunts and sister - but at this time, cross-stitch didn't catch my attention. Today I think that it happened caused the kind of the needlework is thing they were doing (I like cross-stitch pictures!)

It all started when I stopped at a newsstand and saw a new collection being launched .... It was several types of embroidery, knitting, crocheting ... and I thought, why not buy? ... I bought!

I went home and started flipping through the magazine ... and I was blown away with a framework in cross-stitch... and decided to try ... after all, I barely could pass thread in a needle-hole.

I went to a store close to my home .... I bought fabric, needles, every color of floss, box to arrange the threads, label to wrap the threads ... and I started ... through self-taught ... when I had a cruel doubt I asked my mom ... but I was handle it.... after one year ... I finished my project! I chose a fabric with very small stitches.... my eyes get tired soon ... but I insisted and... stitch by stitch... I ended my first job! It was super proud of myself!

Figure 01: Idílio à beira-mar

(25 colors used, stitches:140 H x 112 W)

That's it! This is my first needlecraft in cross-stitch ... That was in 1999 and since then I never stopped!