Punchneedle? Really?

I was up early this morning & got to enjoy seeing the sunrise.  What a way to start the day   : )

Since my husband experiencing the 2 days of returned symptoms it's been rather uneventful here at the farmhouse.  Mind you, I'm not complaining!  Uneventful is good   : )   I've been working on a cross stitch gift for a friend & doing a bit of reading.  Then this morning a great big wrench was thrown into the works!  That wrench is called punchneedle.

There was a new post on one of the blogs I follow ... The Wooden Acorn.  Valerie, the blog mistress, just opened a real brick & mortar shop & she specializes in wool.  There are various photos of the shop on her blog & it looks wonderful!  I actually thought for a moment "Maybe I should try working with wool!"  Then I had to remind myself "Shirlee, you can't get involved in every craft you see!"  Oh, but how I wish I could!  Those beautiful wool colors, the feel of the wool in my hands, those beautiful Valdani threads!  Sigh!  Anyway, on her sidebar Valerie has a few mini photos of things she sells in her Etsy shop & I saw cross stitch items!  Be still my heart!  I clicked on the link to the shop & was greeted by 7 pages of wonderful patterns for cross stitch as well as quilts, woolen items, dolls, & ... Lord help me ... punchneedle.

I have honestly never given punchneedle a second look since the early 80s.  I was living in Florida at the time & went to a flea market with my parents.  Someone had a display of punchneedle items & they were selling the patterns & needle sets.  My mother & I were intrigued!  My father, someone who never spent money "foolishly," told us to each pick out a set of needles & he would buy them for us!  I tried using those needles, believe me I did, but I just could not get my work to look anywhere near acceptable.  I finally gave up, shoved the needles into a drawer, & then sold them ... or maybe even threw them out ... years later.  I've always felt bad about that.  Dad was so sweet buying those needles for my mother & me & I'm sure he wondered why we weren't making anything with them.  I don't think my mother even tried.

Moving on to recent times ... I have seen a blogger or two posting photos of their punchneedle projects every now & then but I haven't really paid much attention to them (sorry ladies).  But this morning I am looking at these punchneedle patterns in Valerie's Etsy shop & thinking "I WANT TO MAKE SOME OF THOSE!!!"  Of course I remember my dismal failure at punchneedle in the early 80s so I am not too confident about giving it a try again ... not to mention the fact that, as I know from experience & stated above, I can't get involved in every craft I see!

To quote Jim Carrey's character in The Mask, "Somebody stop me!"