Our Correspondents News and views from CrossStitcher readers around the world

Ever wondered what stitchers like us are up to in different parts of the globe? We’ve asked readers from near and far to become correspondents for us and share with us their cross stitch news…

Kathy Kyler, Oklahoma, USA

Season’s greetings, y’all! The holiday season here starts in November, with many folks beginning their decorating and baking immediately after the day of American Thanksgiving.

This time of year in Oklahoma is full of festive cheer, even without snow! Our capital, Oklahoma City, has a ‘Downtown in December’ month-long series of fun and frolics, including a manufactured outdoor ice skating rink and sledding for the children at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. My hometown of Norman is only 18 miles from these festivities, and a short drive from Guthrie, which features the Territorial Christmas Celebration at the largest historic preservation district in the U.S. The highlights of the celebration are the stunning living displays of what would have been Victorian-era Guthrie. Of course, there is ample hot cocoa, cider, or tea to share while we take in the sights on brick-lined streets. I always look forward to the return of the Downs Family Christmas Lights, a beautiful changing light display of more than 275,000 lights set to a musical playlist.

Winter is also when I focus on dressage training with my Morgan mare, Farrah, for spring competitions. Our show season starts in February! We both appreciate the indoor arena that protects us from the cold winter wind, and Farrah enjoys the bounty of seasonal peppermint hard candies – her favourite!

Stitching-wise, my thoughts turn to projects with winter and valentine/love themes. Gingerbread and candy canes are featured prominently! Small finishes score big points for their versatility – I like to nestle them in the tree branches, fill bowls with them, or use them as accents to beautify a shelf. I’ve recently finished some Lizzie Kate – Tiny Tidings and Live Laugh Love, and started Little House Needleworks’ Ye Olde Chocolate Shoppe to add some sweetness to shorter days. Some of my recent finishes 1 to 4 My sweet mare Farrah 5 Kathy is a scientific writer and editor who loves to stitch to relax! She lives in Norman, Oklahoma, with her husband, their two cats, and Morgan horses.

Meredith McBee, Dallas, TX, USA

My mini Christmas tree is up in my college dormitory room, so it is safe to say I am ready for 25 December. This is the big day for stitchers all around – if you’re like me, you’ve been sneaking Christmas stitching into your routine since July. Thank goodness I do not live with my family during the school term – it makes it easier to hide their gifts in progress. There is nothing better than gently wrapping up your work inside sparkle tissue paper and beautiful gift wrap – I get so giddy watching my work sit under the sparkly ornaments on the Christmas tree (and hoping my dog doesn’t get into my hours of work).

Christmas in Dallas is always a bit of a surprise. Some years, the sun beats down on the city and I’m wearing shorts

and sneakers well into December. Other years, I am searching for my dusty coat to bundle up as much as possible. Regardless of the weather, I can always be counted on for Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea with milk to bring me and my housemates into the Christmas spirit.

While the weather may not be predictable, I always have a favourite Christmas event: Celebration of Lights. Every year, my university has a candlelight ceremony where we sing our Christmas Carols and light the biggest, most fragrant, Christmas tree. The twinkle lights stay up throughout the final exam season to remind me of the upcoming Christmas holidays. The memory of a steaming cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a lit candle in my other hand always manages to motivate me as I sit in the library surrounded by practice tests and textbooks two weeks after the event. This year, I am in my final year of university, so it will be sad to watch this tradition for the last time as a student.

It is safe to say I have been in the Christmas stitching mood since July. Pulling out old issues of CrossStitcher is a great way for me to brainstorm gifts for everyone on my ever-growing Christmas list. As a student, it is vital for me to get a head start or else December rolls around and I have no money and no time to stitch – I blame the Christmas-themed drinks at Starbucks and school for this. Inevitably, I always manage to leave something to the last minute. Last Christmas, I remember flying home to visit my family and walking straight into my bedroom to finish (okay, I’ll be honest, start) all of my stitching projects. As much fun as it is to spend time stitching whilst watching every cheesy Christmas movie possible, it’s more fun to enjoy time with family.

Alright, I’m off to study, but soon I will have unlimited stitching time on my hands – just what I want for Christmas. Got to make the most of the time before Christmas to stitch up some gifts! 6 Meredith is a 22-year-old university student studying Journalism, Fashion Media and Marketing. She chronicles her stitching on her crafting instagram @craftymerebear.

Joanna Guldin-Noll, Pennsylvania, USA

It never fails: after every Christmas, I promise myself I won’t wait until November to begin working on ornaments for my family. Eleven months later, I’m furiously stitching until all hours of the night, trying to churn out ornaments and swearing that this won’t happen next year.

For the last seven years, I’ve stitched ornaments for my immediate family as gifts. Each person receives an ornament that I picked just for them and has some kind of significance for the person’s character and interests or alludes to something wonderful that happened to them in the past year.

Handmade gifts are a tradition in my family. My mom quilts and appliqués; my dad is a woodwork and stained glass hobbyist. We always find something from them under the tree. When I went to college, my dad started giving me a wooden, handcrafted Nativity piece every year. My set is now

complete after a decade and is one of my most treasured possessions. When I saw Mill Hill’s Nativity Trilogies, I knew it was the perfect project to embark on. During the past five years, I’ve stitched a new piece for each of my parents; they keep them all on a tree in the foyer.

As the weather turns cold, our coffee shop becomes cosier as people begin to get into the holiday spirit by drinking pumpkin spice and peppermint drinks, buying gifts, writing out Christmas cards, and listening to holiday tunes. In the last few weeks before Christmas, I’ll try to sneak away to the shop as much as possible to stitch with a cup of hot chocolate on hand! Maybe this year I won’t be so last-minute... Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus from Mill Hill’s Nativity Trilogy 7 Christmas decorations at Swatara Coffee Co. 8 The Nativity set from my dad 9 Joanna is a professional writer and works for a national non-profit. You can read her blog at jomygosh.com and find out more about Swatara Coffee Co. at swataracoffee.com.

Joanne Hepworth, Castleford, West Yorkshire

After that summer, I am, as the song goes, dreaming of a White Christmas. Which is very unlikely, I know you’re thinking rolling Yorkshire Hills covered in fluffy white snow, the quintessential picture postcard. Unfortunately, the couple of white centimetres of snow we get very quickly turns to grey slush. But a girl can dream! The only white snow I will see will be on my stitching.

I am that person that each year dreams of producing a range of stitched gifts and cards for loved ones. Usually the dream dies and reality comes crashing in around November, where the Christmas cards have gone at the wayside and the over ambitious gift has been pushed to the side for all the shiny new projects that have popped up and is looking at being ready for next year at the earliest.

With that in mind, this year, it was going to be different, armed with a realistic plan and a January head start. The gauntlet was set for ‘A Partridge in a Pear Tree’ from Margaret Sherry’s 12 Days of Christmas and the Snowman Table Runner by Rico. Manageable, right? I have so far completed two and the table runner, well, in my defence there was a sew-along from Satsuma Street that I just had to do and... Two designs down and let’s just say I need to get on with the table runner… 10 & 11

Joanne works in politics as a caseworker for a local MP. She is also a district and town councillor. In her down time she enjoys crafts, from sewing and of course cross stitch, to painting and drawing – she attends a local art club.