Working Your Way To Relaxation

By Author: Kenneth Rash
Total Articles: 2
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Today's fast-paced world has pushed many people to try to find newer ways of being able to relax - from spa messages to reading books to eating out. Unfortunately, not many people, especially women, are aware that holding a thread and a needle can actually relax your mind and let your creative juices flow. So what are we talking about?

Cross stitching has been around for quite some time. It is a form of counted-thread embroidery and is the art of making X-shaped stitches in a tiled pattern in order to make pictures. The stitching is usually done on an aida cloth, an open, even-weave fabric made from cotton that has enough stiffness to do away with the use of an embroidery hoop.

If you are interested in engaging in some cross stitching projects, one of the things that you need to have is an aida fabric in an 11 or 14 count. It means that, per linear inch of the cloth, there are 11 or 14 counts. As much as possible, go for an aida fabric that is rolled rather than one that is folded as the creases might be hard to remove.

Embroidery floss is another of those cross stitch supplies ...
... that you should have on hand. These are the threads made of six loosely twisted strands in cotton, silk or rayon. However, before you go and buy embroidery floss in every color, you have to make sure that you have a pattern. This would help you determine which colors to get first.

You should also give particular attention to the kind of needle, another of those cross stitch supplies you should get, as this could spell the difference between relaxation and stress when you are doing your cross stitch. There are a number of needles that you can choose from. However, one thing that you should keep in mind is that your needle should be slightly larger at the eye than the thickness of the thread. It should also be able to make enough-sized hole for the thread to pass through easily.

The last, and the most important, of the cross stitch supplies that you should have is a pair of scissors. Keep in mind that your scissors should be sharp enough to cut through the embroidery floss without fraying the ends. You can opt to have small scissors as you would just need them to snip off the threads.