I Cross Stitch! June Cleaver did Needlepoint

The current blog question from Stitching the Night Away


Do you experience this same assumption from society in general that just because you’re being crafty you’re also driven by some unseen force to be in constant 1950s housewife mode? and then…. Who actually does the cooking and the cleaning in the household? I’d also really like to hear some words from the men in the crowd who stitch on this topic. What sort of societal reactions do you get and what ridiculously wrong assumptions do people make towards you when they see you working on needlework?


I am far from a 1950's housewife.  At this point my house is a disaster since the kids are home from college and I am recovering from knee surgery.  When things are "normal", I now do the majority of the housework.  When the kids were home they did it to earn extra cash.  (I always told them I didn't need a paper route.  I already have a job.  So cleaning was a win-win.)  The husband will do dishes and other chores if asked.  He does do all the yard work except the flower beds.  He has stepped up to the plate during this time to help with laundry and grocery shopping.   I think he is ready for things to go back to the way they were before my surgery.  


The most interesting response I have gotten over the years was when I was in Fort Lauderdale, FL visiting my sister.  She thought it would be a treat for me to visit her favorite needlepoint store. It was filled with quite lovely, handpainted canvases a bit out of my price range.  (That was one of the reasons I started cross stitching in 1982, was I needed an inexpensive hobby since I had just graduated from college and had my first apartment.  Not so cheap now, haha).  I made the comment that I cross stitch.  I was promptly informed, "Oh dear, cross stitch is just a craft.  Needlepoint is artwork."  I am still trying to figure that one out.  Maybe the hand painted canvases were "artwork" but, if it isn't originally your artwork then isn't it also a craft when you stitch it?


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Thanks for stopping and keep on stitching.  I will, I don't care what anybody thinks.  I am the stitching honey badger.