About
I have been a crafter for as long as I can remember. My grandma taught me how to embroider when I was younger and I loved crafting ever since. My grandpa did leather work and wood work and each year he would make my mom and aunts each a christmas ornament. Each one was special and handmade. They were something that would be passed down to the grandchildren and cherished for years to come. My great grandma was an amazing seamstress and my grandma did all sorts of crafts. She always had this giant loom sitting in their spare bedroom that I thought was the craziest looking thing when I was little.
As I grew older, I loved to try out different crafts like soap making, resin, and polymer clay. My mom and I started a project where we made the Peanuts characters into a Christmas display each year and we would try to add one each year. We even expanded into a halloween display. When I went off to college, I felt like I needed a creative outlet. The only problem was that all of my crafts took up so much room and I also didn’t want to buy all of the supplies again when I had them at home. That is why I started to embroider again. It was a cheaper hobby that didn't take up as much space and was a great way to get off of my phone and be creative. One time I was embroidering and I didn’t realize that I had accidentally put my phone in the washing machine with my clothes and it had been in there for 45 minutes! Don’t worry the phone survived.
There were so many things I loved about traditional hand embroidery. I loved sewing, I loved creating my own designs, and I loved how it was like color by numbers but with thread. The one thing I wished I could do with my embroidery was turn it into something more than just a hoop that I would hang on my wall. I know that there are other things you can do like embroider clothes and towels but you can't really wash them because they are so delicate. This is why I turned to needlepoint. What I love about needlepoint is that there are so many designs out there for everyone it is so easy to get started and there are so many things you can turn your canvases into.
After I graduated with my master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, I fell into a deep depression and the one thing that helped calm my mind was needlepoint. I eventually found a job in the Dallas area, but when I moved here I had no friends and knew basically nobody except for my aunt who lived in Frisco. I felt the need for community but most needlepoint stores did stitch nights while I was working or it was impossible to get to downtown in enough time. My first stitch night I went to in Dallas I knew nobody and felt like I didn't belong. After going to more events and meetups, I found that most people just want connection and a way to express themselves creatively. I know it seems ambitious for a fairly new needlepointer (although I have been doing some form of needlework for a long time), but I wanted to create A Frayed Knot to help people get into needlepoint, create community, and show that needlepoint does not have to be this huge expensive thing when you are just starting out.
Our Mission
At A Frayed Knot Needlepoint, we want to make everyone in the needlepoint community feel welcome and accepted regardless of who you are or how long you have been stitching. We strive to make needlepoint as affordable as possible while also recognizing that this is a very human craft and nothing is mass produced. We believe that stitching should be fun and everyone should be able to enjoy this hobby.