BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will change the world for real

First of all: go to Radical Cross Stitch and read what I meant to write about the cross stitch in the last post, but didn't have the energy or words for then.

Second: some time back I got an e-mail from a German publisher, asking if they could use one of my cross stitches for a book they where putting together. Last week the book finally arrived in my mail and it looks like this:

It's a compilation of feminist texts, from Sojuorner Truth, the riot grrrl manifesto, Emma Goldman, Audre Lorde, Judith Butler and a lot of other writers/groups that actually say something to me about my life. So if you speak German and you're into reading classic feminist critique, go to Orange Press, send them an e-mail and ask if you can buy the book, wait for it to arrive at your home and then flip to page 97 where this cross stitch illustrates the chapter on Valerie Solanas.

"Radikales Handarbeiten": Über Tätigkeiten, die lange Zeit als "weiblich" galten, werden subversive Botschaften in vertrautem Stil präsentiert - hier der erste Satz des SCUM-Manifests.

I have no idea what it means, but I'm hoping it's something good.

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:

...and nothing for ourselves

I've been stitching this for a while now and finally finished it last week. the pattern is originally from the rrrad and crafty Bee Listy, who you might recognize if you hang around Mr Xstitch a lot or just appreciate people who are

"mad as hell and sticks needles into things to sublimate [their] rage".

Except lovely flash tattoo stuff like this, she also blogs at queercraft and stitches amazing portaits that I could never finish, since I know how much time and hard work she must put into them.

I played around a bit with the pattern, mostly the colours (and now I think that maybe I should have stuck to the original, since I managed to fuck up the shadeing a bit) but also the text. The quote comes from the EZLN, the Zapatistas, in Mexico and in english it translates to "everything for everyone". Words that maybe should be the goal to set out for in any political project. I tried to make it come alive a bit more, using silver metalic floss for parts of the dagger, but it's tricky to photograph it well.

fuma, bebe, não pensa em trabalhar, fuma, bebe queremos é descansar (summer crafternoon in the park)

So, I've been away for a while again.
No need to explain that more than the usual total lack of creativity.

It's summer & the last week or so we've had tropical weather in Stockholm - it's too hot to do anything except eat ice cream & listen to Neurosis, Cult of Luna or ISIS. Yesterday I tried to break the vicious circle of sweat, sleep & work by gathering my craft crew for some outdoors activities.

There was food! & Emilia.

Helena was a happy crafter.

it's the Batscarf!

Cross stitch for the newborn.

Emilia is still working on what she herself calls "the Turd".

You could also be this happy if you had a new sewing machine to help you patch up your stuff.

This is cross stitch history in the making.

To the right - our newest member Jenni.

To the left - her first(?) finished cross stitch!

We are very colour coordinated, Nadja & me.

Picnic is always the best food.

The Cutest Cat Ever(tm) appeared out of nowhere & joined us.

She had a thing for cuddeling with early 20th century anarchists.

We named her Emma.

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!