Tic Tac Tic Tac - A guest post

Today I have asked my lovely friend Maria to be a guest blogger and share the story on her tic tac tic tac cross stitch... Maria does not have a blog but she is a very creative lady that owns a super creative shop, they make the most wonderful pillowcases. You can visit and share some love on her Facebook page or website here.



And now I leave her to tell you all the story...

When my Argentinian, almost English with a Luxembourgers touch friend Nati, asked me to write a bit about my embroidery, I was not quite sure what to say apart from sending her some pictures. Then I remembered that there’s actually a sweet story behind this work. Let’s go back 14 years in time, shall we? 

So here I was in the beginning of my university years. Yeah you know how those are, right? ;) Going out, meeting people, too much alcohol, too little sleep. That was me too for while! But I was not alone; I made great friends along the way, and 3 very good friends. One of them is actually going to get married this summer and the remaining 3 of us are going to be her bride’s maids! But back to the story! So one day, instead of going out to drink, dance and meet boys, we decided to stay home…knitting! The mother of one of the girls used to do a lot of works in crossed buttonhole stitch and we all got curious. So we tried it and we loved it and for a while instead of going out on the town we would stay home chatting all night long and…knitting. That was a bit embarrassing at the time. I confess it still kind of is, so it is something I don’t mention very often at dinner parties! J But for some reason it was addictive. I couldn't stop doing it.. And that’s when I realized Mother’s Day was arriving so I had this idea to do something for my mum.

I don’t really remember how I came up with the clock idea. I actually think I found it on a magazine and just decided to go for that one. But I immediately remember thinking it was funny: so many clocks! Tic tac, tic tac. So I spent a few nights at home in front of the TV doing this. Obviously to a great part of my friends I was just ‘hanging out with some other crowd’ ;)

I don’t recall finding it difficult to make but I used the embroidery hoop to make sure it would be perfect. The most challenging item was actually the golden clock because the thread was a bit thicker than the other ones. It required some time, some patience and attention, but I loved doing it.

I didn't finish it on time to offer it to my mother on Mother’s day, so I showed her what I had already made and told her that once done, that would be her gift. I missed the deadline. And maybe because I didn't give it to her as a proper gift, it kind of stayed forgotten in a threads basket for a few years. I completely forgot about it until very recently, on my birthday, my mum who contrarily didn't forget it, offered me the gift I once offered her but this time in this gorgeous frame so I could hang it in the kitchen of the apartment I share with my boyfriend. I loved it!

It represents karma to me: you give love and receive love, and that’s what I got! I spent a great deal of time doing this to surprise my mum and she managed to surprise me back 14 years after.
So it is up now and I think it brings some colour  some warmness and some romance to our little kitchen. Being not a huge space, some small details like this frame make all that stainless steel not so obvious.

So here you go Nati. I just hope your readers enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed knitting. And you know what? Writing this and remembering those times 14 years ago, is making me feel like dusting off my old needles!

I am sure they all enjoyed the story as much as I did! Thank you Maria for sharing it with us... I wish you were here today, it is the perfect rainy day to spend it inside knitting!