Most Extreme Stitches – Part 1: The Falklands
Hello lovely people! How are you all?
Last time I talked about cross stitch while travelling and that yes! You can stitch on a plane! That must be the question I get asked the most.
The second most asked question is “Where’s the most extreme place you’ve stitched?”.
This is usually asked as a bit of a challenge, almost “Extreme huh? I’ll be the judge of that!”. This approach amuses me greatly on the inside, as I know what my response is.
“Well, it’s either with penguins in the Falklands, in a shark tank, or with The Inbetweeners” (imagine my big smiley face at this point).
Back in 2014 I found myself alone once more for several months, while my other half was away with work. Whenever this happened (usually at short notice) I’d do something fun for charity – I’m all about turning a negative into a positive and it’s a great way to battle the loneliness. I asked my friends to challenge me to do something in return for a charity donation. My lovely friend sponsored me to stitch in 50 extreme places – and Extreme X Stitch was born. That summer I was doing loads of travelling, including a trip to The Falklands, which meant I had 16 hours of stitching time on the flight down there and endless opportunities for extreme stitching.
A couple of days after I arrived, a group of us were on a helicopter to Volunteer Point to see the penguins – a must see if you ever find yourself in the South Atlantic. After a lift on a quad bike from the landowner, I was on the beach and faced with Gentoo penguins, happily minding their own business.
Further along the windswept beach, with waves crashing, were the King penguins. My first thought was “Wow they were exactly like the penguins from Mary Poppins!”, it seems my brain works in mysterious ways.
Since 2014 I’ve always carried this cross stitch in my bag. It’s a stitch-able iPhone cover, it’s small enough to fit in a bag or pocket and made of something rubbery so it can take some damage and – bonus feature – its waterproof. It’s a really good durable cross stitch to carry just in case I feel like being extreme or I bump into a celebrity.
I’d love to know what is the most extreme place you’ve stitched? And in an ideal world, probably where teleportation is a reality, where would you most like to extreme cross stitch?
Personally, I’d choose while wing walking… no… on the International Space Station… no… on the moon! OK, I’ll need to start a list.
