X makes a start

When my family moved from the US to the UK it was a trying time for me. I was a teenager and coming onto my senior year. I left my friends that I had known since middle school and was suddenly in a country that previously had only been a vacation spot while visiting my mum's family. Being lonely and not knowing anyone...my mum picked up a small cross stich pattern set. I was about 4" by 6" is size and came with the fabric and threads. I was instantly hooked. Cross stiching taught a hyper and intensly emotional (isn't every teeenager) young adult patience as well as thinking ahead. Today, I still cross stich and it is a huge mind cleanser as well as soul relaxer to me. The patterns are more complex using beads and ribbon as well as metallics and beign as large as 16" by 18" in size, but the peace is still the same. I have only kept one, my first large one that looks more like a water colour. The rest go to friends and family. They are a giving of my love and thoughts, as I tend to think about the person I am giving it to while I am making the piece.