Not Your Grandmother's Cross Stitch

Say "cross stitch" to people who don't do needlework, and their first thoughts are "antique samplers" and/or "ersatz early American decor." Say the same words to a person who does needlework and they're likely to picture elaborate, multicolor scenes that are stunningly beautiful, but take months to complete or a variety of needlepoint that's extremely tough and long-wearing but also takes time and a strong frame to complete.

And then there's this book I just found called Stitch Graffiti (by Heather Holland Daly, published in 2008) which turns all those notions on their lovely, complicated heads. Ms. H-D says things like, "try stitching this design on nylon screening" instead of traditional cloth and "change the colors if you don't like mine." She then tells you a simple way to balance the colors when you do change them so the design looks like it was planned that way, not arbitrarily altered.

Like most needlework designers, she includes an alphabet, but hers really does look like something some school drop out might have spray painted on a city wall.

All of her designs look like they'd be fun to do, and, to make the creation as relaxing as possible, she offers suggestions about the appropriate music to play while you stitch.