In today’s post, I will be featuring one of our community member’s cross stitch stories: Kelly Haycock
Meet Kelly
Kelly lives in Hampshire, in the south of England, near Portsmouth. She is 36 and has been stitching ever since she received her first kit as a 10th Birthday present from her aunt – a Jemima Puddleduck pattern. Kelly loves cross stitch because of the variety of designs available and how relaxing it is to stitch. In addition to cross stitch, she also does embroidery, diamond painting, coloring, and reading.
Kelly’s Story
“I received my first project at 10 and it took me about a year to complete. I remember in the last day of term everyone else was taking a toy or a game into school to play with – I took my cross stitch.
“Since then I’ve completed more than 50 different kits ranging from dolphins to wizards to fairies to leopards. I particularly like Care Bears and have done several Care Bear kits. The wizard kit took me the longest at over five years. I’d managed the bottom half of it in that time, but once I bought a floor stand frame I was able to complete the top half in 6 months!
“In the time since I started stitching, I finished senior school, 6th form, college, and started working. I was a nursery nurse for 10 years — well, actually three months short of 10 years. When I started, it was brilliant, but the longer I worked there, the worse it got. Leaving that job to start work as a museum assistant was the best choice I’ve ever made. My cross stitch has helped me through all of this.
“In addition to stitching, I’m also a Cub Scout leader to a great group of young people. “
Kelly’s Latest Project
The most recent project Kelly finished is a Bothy Threads Bebunni kit from LoveCrafts for one of her work colleagues, who was due to have a baby in August. She just needs to add the baby’s name and stats. Kelly said it was the first time she’s used Lana threads, and she loves the effect to give the fleece blanket in the design a fluffy look.
Thank you to Kelly for sharing her story and photographs of some of her projects!
