do they owe us a living? OF COURSE THEY FUCKING DO.

A birthday patch for Siska. I've had the pattern for ages, but this is the first time I stitched it. Will try another version, with another type of aida, to make it a bit smaller. But I'm happy with the black back stitches framing it.

with my heart in my hands again

I almost thought I'd lost this cross stitch when I moved to Gothenburg, but tonight when I was roaming around my craft basket it suddenly appeared again. It's actually one of my favorites, so I thought that it deserved to be properly framed.

It's not that it's the most complicated or political work I've done, but I remember being heartbroken & really hurting when stitching it, just coming to terms with the fact that I had to get on with life & leave something/someone behind. Plus, the death of the Gits' singer Mia Zapata (who wrote the lyrics that I'm quoting) is one of the saddest & most upseting ones that I know of. As Kathleen Hanna once put it:

another woman killed and hardly a pout about it / green river killer my fucking ass / the cops have gotta be deaf, dumb, and spastic / to not catch the killer(s) of one hundred woman / i guess it'd be different if they thought we were human

up the punx!

Since I like the combination of punk rock & cross stitch (see examples here, here & here) I thought that there must be others like me somewhere out there. So I went on the interwebz & searched for like minded stitchers, but they're harder to find than I thought.

Got a little bit frustrated, until I remembered that a while ago I found this reassuring piece from Whatever James:

As a bonus, here's another work of his that I really like.

I also tried my luck at Etsy, where I found Bombastitch who makes a lot of funny & cool x-stitch stuff. My favourite is the simple & elegant Black Flag logo (been thinking about stitching that one myself). Great work, great band.

PopSoupSupplies sells this multi-tasking Clash pattern, that works for "CROCHETING, KNITTING, CROSS STITCH, NEEDLEPOINT, BEADING AND MUCH MORE!". I love the frame, but I'm guessing it's not included in the price...

Another cross stitching punk genius is Lisa, who I met at Punk Illegal '07 where we discovered that we share a mutual love for Sju Svåra År. The quote on this pillow comes from the same song as this one.

Another favourite of mine is this one. The top hits on Google claims that Skitliv is a norwegian black/doom metal band formed by the former singer of Mayhem, but in my world it's a song by Skitsystem.

But I'm thinking that this can't be all there is? Leave a comment here or send an e-mail if you have any links to share.

EDIT: I forgot Confessions of a Crafter! Love this:

every day another conflict / I take it one day at a time and do the things I need to do

Since I fucked up my leg & had to start getting around on crutches, I've had to carry all my stuff in an old ugly backpack that I don't really like. So to make it a bit more punk & personal, I stitched a Naked Aggression patch for it. If you want to make your own patch, I'll post the pattern in the DIY archive.

& I also got a late birthday gift today, well worth the wait. It's a handmade notebook with my name ingraved in gold. It's so beautiful that I almost cried when I got it.

museums are dead take a new art stance

I haven't really been feeling like crafting/stitching these last couple of weeks, but going through the pattern map on my laptop, I found this one that I think some of you might like. It gets to join the other patterns on the DIY or DIE! page.

When stitched, it looks something like this:

In times like these, it feels good to listen to someone singing that hospital closure kills more than car bombs ever will.

Manic Street Preachers - New Art Riot

hello kitty kathleen (forever in her debt)

When I started stitching this I had some grand elaborate idea in my head about trying to make a statement about girl culture, pop icons, feminism, cuteness-as-a-subversive-tool, riot grrl, feeling like an outsider even in the alternative culture & of course a bit of a homage to Kathleen Hanna, my punk rock queen.

Here's the song that inspired it all:

old school vs. new school

When my great aunt Karin passed away a while ago (she was 100 years old & really the aunt of my grandfather) I inherited this cross stitch from her. I really like it, even though the words sound a little bit too life loving for me:

Everyday is a wondrous gift.

But the pattern is really neat & in some way I like the thought of passing on a skill & craft that's been in my family for generations. So I decided to make my own version of it, using Karin's pattern.

I would have liked to get the text whole text there in just two lines, like the original, but there just wasn't room for it. Have no idea where I got the frase from, probably somewhere on the internet but I can't find it now. The best part is that I get to give it away as a very late birthday gift to a friend & co-worker.

patches for the masses (the kind of craft that your doctor warned you about)

Someone googled "will my eyes get bad if I do cross stitch" & ended up here. I'm not sure, but I think the answer to the question is no, not unless you do it in complete dark & why would you do that? What you might get is a hand that looks somewhat like this:

So, what do you do when extensive crafting has left you with a stupid looking hand that hurts & doesn't want to be your friend anymore? You make patches! Just make sure to ignore your doctors advice about no crafting for the next couple of weeks...

If you want to make your own patches you'll find the patterns on the new & improved DIY or die! page. Instead of a plain old boring wrist support thingy, you get one that might get people to think that you hurt your hand playing cool tunes on your guitar, or smashing the system with your bare fists.

Here is Skitystem (Sweden's finest) playing at the Obscene Extreme festival a couple of years ago. Since then they've split up, but just last Saturday they reunited to play a show in Gothenburg. Let's hope it wasn't a one hit wonder.

still don't know what I was waiting for & my time was running wild, a million dead-end streets

Hi kids! I've made a few changes here, hope you like it.

I've been thinking about making a pattern archive for a while, since one of the most common google searches that takes people to this blog is "punk cross stitch patterns". Below the banner you'll find a new link (DIY or die!) that takes you to the page with the patterns. I'll try to update it with new ones when I get the chance.

& here's a video with Cross Stitched Eyes!

does it bother you that I don't fucking care?

& here's the result of yesterdays + today's renewed love for Nasum. Now I feel inspired to massproduce patches again, just have to figure out bands with logos that would work well as x-stitch patterns. Naked Aggression & Infect are good candidates...

but they took our ideas to their marketing stars / & now I'm spending all my days at girlpower.com / trying to buy back a little piece of me

I made a bookmark for my favourite librarian.

It went very well with the book I'm reading right now, The Popular Music Studies Reader. I mean, who could resist academic texts on topics like: Understanding hipness: 'subcultural capital' as feminist tool; Rules of rebellion: slamdancing, moshing and the american alternative scene; Voices from the margins: rap music and contemporary cultural production or Smells like teen spirit: riot grrrls, revolution and women in independent rock? It's really heaven for a sucker for subcultural nerdyness with a twist of academics like me. & I get to write about it & get credit for it! Makes me wanna start off every day with a song. Or some d-beat.

Anyhow, here's some close ups & since I'm off to the island for Easter vacation tomorrow (crafting! thrift stores! food! candy!) I'll leave you with a feminist anthem for the 21 century.

some entertainment, while you're waiting

Just so that you all don't think that I've died/gone off with the circus/stopped blogging, here's two works in progress:

Look! it's not even x-stitch! I've evolved!

But this one is...

madonna/whore, what a bore

This one is inspired by my friends in the newly re-united band Sju Svåra År - or at least I stole the quote from them. It's the swedish translation of "I don't give a damn about my bad reputation" & of course they got it from Joan Jett.

But more important is the fact that a woman that's not afraid of expressing herself in any way, especially sexually, is still seen as a "bad woman" in societies eyes - she's a whore, a slut, a sinner & if something bad happens to her, well maybe she deserved it. It must be very confusing growing up in todays (western) world, where the girls are bombarded with images of the "perfect" female body, with the demand on being sexy, being available, to always dress & act according to the expectations of the male eye, but at the same time balance on that thin line that separates them from "loose women". Not to recognize their own sexuality & say fuck it, I like sleeping around, I like being myself in any way, because if they do they might be marked for life. It is amazing that the notion that a woman who sleeps around is a whore & a man that does the same is a stud is still such a unchallenged part of society. So, to not give a damn about one's reputation, whether it be sexually or in any other way, is one of the things that maybe should be most important in the feminist struggle today.

(Okay, so I'm a little bit stressed writing this - I will probably edit this post later, to get my point across in a better way.)

pretty shitty city (it's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win)

There won't be any updates here for at least two weeks now, since I'm off to Gothenburg tomorrow & then to Munkedal & Punk Illegal - a punk festival hosted by the network No One Is Illegal.

Then I'm staying in Gothenburg for a week to see Discarga (my favourite Brazilian band!) & Bruce Springsteen (the Boss!). But I won't be lazy with the crafting while I'm on vacation, just started drawing up the design for a birthday gift to my friend Siska - she asked for something "man hating" & well, I'm thinking Valerie Solanas...

sweet dreams are made of this

Yeay, an update! I've finished some stuff during Easter (a weekend spent on Öland with my cousin & aunt, doing nothing but eating & crafting & visiting yardsales) so here goes:

My first encounter with feminism was probably through music - the angry screams of Kathleen, Corin, Tobi, Allison, Jennifer, Carrie & all the other riot grrrls. It was through them I got my first insights about issues like sexual abuse, female empowerment & sexuality. My first analysis of patriarchy was definitely soundtracked & fueld by the pure force of songs like Double dare ya.

We're bikini kill, and we want revolution, girl style, NOW!

So, I made a pattern for the classic jumping cheerleader with the text on it, but then decided to go another way. & I think it turned out pretty good, the plan is to make a pillowcase out of it.

Speaking of pillowcases, this is one that my cousin made last summer. I love the expression in the boy's face:

I'm to tired to make this into a proper update with text & all, so you just have to do with a crappy photo of another patch I finished in the car on the way home today.

poison in a pretty pill

After months & months of searching for the perfect frame for the Wolfbrigade x-stitch (I wanted a big golden one) I finaly gave up, so since yesterday it's in the hands of it's rightful owners. Here's Dadde showing off the new backdrop & Micke channeling his inner emo kid...

(the photos aren't bad, they're PUNK ROCK, haha)

I've made some changes to the pretty punk embroidery since last time I posted a photo of it. Had to put som skulls & bones on it, so that the boys wouldn't feel too intimidated by the quteness. Then I accidentaly spilled some coffee on it, but i rationalize the stains as punk... & if you live in Stockholm, don't miss Wolfbrigade playing at Kafé 44 on Sunday March 9, (together with Imperial Leather & DSB).

P.R.D.C.T

Last update before christmas... I'm busy creating magnificent gifts for people I know (or people I want to know) so I'll leave you with this little piece. Patches don't get more punk rock than this.

it's my strike & i'll cross stitch if i want to

Well, this is really therapy cross stitching... I did it in response to the last months conflicts & strike at the place where I work. The quote comes from Against me! & sort of sums up my view of how my bosses are acting right now. It feels sad & upsetting at the same time, that people involved in the animal rights movement, who themselves constantly are being ridiculed, questioned & seen as "anti-democratic" because of a political standpoint, can use the same type of accusations & name calling when it comes to other situations.

pretty vengeance taken for your relief

The photo is taken a while ago, it's actually finished now (even though Í'm still looking for a suitable frame for it). It was supposed to be just a patch from the beginning, but I calculated the size all wrong.

Instead I'm giving it to the guys in Wolfbrigade so it can look pretty on the wall of their rehearsal space. I'm trying tro get them to promise that it'll be the next album cover, 'cause they should really try and get away from that old esthetic of bombs, grenades & skulls...