Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint

Yarn Explosion
5227 Airport Road . Roanoke, VA
540.206.2638

The stereotypical image of a 65-year-old woman rocking in her housecoat, knitting away is just not the case anymore. Needlepoint is a craft that has literally been around forever. Wikipedia states: The roots of needlepoint go back thousands of years to the ancient Egyptians who used small slanted stitches to sew up their canvas tents. Howard Carter, of Tutankhamen fame, found some needlepoint in the Cave of a Pharaoh who had lived 1500 years before Christ. Modern needlepoint descends from the canvas work in tent stitch that was a popular domestic craft in the 16th century and from 17th-century Bargello through the shaded Berlin wool work in brightly-colored wool yarn. Upholstered furniture became the fashion in the 17th century, and this prompted the development of a more durable material to serve as a foundation for the embroidered works of art. In Early American culture, young girls commonly created needlepoint usually containing a blessing on their homes along with the alphabet and numbers. This rite of passage displayed not only the girl's proficiency in stiching but her literacy as well.


And wow... has it come a long way! Our needlepoint lesson was with Brenda at Yarn Explosion in Roanoke. Not only does she know just about everything there is to know about it - along with probably ever other craft out there - but she made us feel at ease the minute we arrived. Let's face it, we're sure she had second thoughts about having us young "whipper snappers" come in to learn how to needlepoint. 

You've seen those gorgeous throw pillows in the Pottery Barn catalog. You dream of hanging custom needlepoint stockings by the chimney with care. Well, we actually learned how to make them in a one hour lesson. (Of course those items will take a tad longer to create, but you catch our drift.) So not only could we save lots of money by making them ourselves, but we'd create something with more meaning than just ordering online.


Needlepoint consists of many stitches and techniques, but we learned the basic two - continental and basket weave. Think "cross stitch" but instead of making an "x" you're only doing one "/". (The direction it goes depends on whether you're left or right handed.) That's it. Joey is quite creative and crafty and after a few instructions she was off! Amy on the other hand, was, um... not! We'll blame it on the A.D.D. kicking in. But after a little extra assistance she was able to get the hang of it. Sort of. (We're not sure if she'll be continuing her new craft, but she does have a new appreciation for needlepoint. Joey has already signed up for more classes. Showoff!)

Once you get the basics down the rest is really up to you. Starting kits in just about any pattern, any style and for any items are available from Yarn Explosion, as well as other local craft supply stores and online. Need some ideas? Just a quick search online will find you a ton of ideas. One we like is www.amhdesignonline.com. You can find ideas just about anywhere you look and those ideas can be turned into needlepoint with a little patience and practice (and maybe some one-on-one time with Brenda).

Yarn Explosion offers a huge variety of lessons. (Needlepoint still not your thing? They also offer classes in how to crochet, knit and more.) With the new "explosion" of vintage trends in fashion and home decor, you may just find that a new passion (or career) is on the horizon! (Well, except for Amy... poor gal.)