In this video I’m sharing my very first go at cross-stitch embroidery, using a sweet little mini kit that Kindred Spirit Susan sent me. I’ll show you what I made (and yes, I absolutely skim-read the instructions and then just went off and did my own thing). I used the picture as a guide rather than meticulously counting squares, added extra flowers, spaced things out differently, and I even ran out of the purple thread—so I swapped in red and changed the word to “Love” because I want to include this piece in the sequel to my book, Lamp in Dark Places. I also talk about my unexpected love for French knots. I had a world of pain trying to learn them from the diagram (it did not help me at all), but once I watched a YouTube tutorial and figured out the tension, I was like… oh my gosh, this is actually really fun. I share a little pep talk about how forgiving stitching can be—because the back can look like a complete mess and it’s fine (honestly, there’s a life lesson in that). This took me about two to three hours and it’s a gentle, cozy introduction to the slow stitching journey I’m about to start with my grandmother’s threads, as a way to reflect my moods day by day.