One of the things I’m most curious about is the way that my original email has been edited for publication. Here’s my original email.
I appreciate that when I originally wrote the email, I was not thinking of it being published word for word. I’m not entirely sure what I thought, the pictures I attached were more important. Under these circumstances, the email was almost certain to be edited.
The language used in the edited version, however, does not, to me, sound like me! To be honest – I hope I sound more intelligent and slightly less over-enthusiastic! And it’s got me thinking about UK cross stitch magazines. I don’t often buy magazines for two reasons – the designs don’t often appeal and the style in which they’re written.
And I was reminded me of an article by Patricia Bage in Classic Stitches towards the end of last year (I can’t check as it’s stored with the still inaccessible stash) in which she commented on the differences in the British and American markets. Apparently, in the American market, designs using mixed stitches are far more popular, whereas the British market prefers cross stitch alone. I think also that kits were perhaps more popular in the British market, whereas in the American market, there was much more interest in ‘manually’ kitting up a project and selecting the fabric and flosses.
Now, I realise I’m generalising very much here, but I’d be interested in the comments and observations of others on this.
I wonder how unusual I am for a British stitcher and I wonder about the role of the Internet in this. In some recent British magazines, biscornus seem to be being sold as new and exciting. I first discovered biscornus around 3 years ago when I first got into stitching on the Internet, so they don’t seem quite so new to me (but still exciting) and the magazines seem to be out of step.
The stitching interests of the British stitchers whose blogs I read also seem to be far broader than just cross stitched pictures and I suspect Patricia Bage, in her article, missed out another market (as well as other parts of the globe), an international, perhaps internet-driven market, where people, perhaps like me, find the ‘home’ market too limited and are inclined to shop online and potentially internationally.
Anyone like to comment? And how typical are the American stitchers I encounter online of American stitchers? What's it like in other countries?
Finally, a giveaway. As a prize for having my letter published in the magazine, I've been sent a couple of small cross stitch kits, neither of which I am ever likely to stitch.
If anyone would like one or other or both of them, leave me a comment saying that you're interested!
