Today we have an awesome post by KathleenCG who’s giving us an insight on keeping stress free with cross stitch 😀

In times where I am stressed, I’m glad that I took up cross stitching as a hobby. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with stress – exercise, writing, spa day, etc. For me, it’s cross stitch. I’ve been doing cross stitch for just over a year now. It has become a bit of a escape for me, as I’m able to submerge myself in it and forget my troubles. Read on for the ways cross stitch helps me keep my stress levels low.

Cross stitch keeps me focused

With cross stitch, there are many variables that come into play. From figuring out the pattern to counting how many squares you need to stitch, you need to make sure you’re paying attention at every step. It can be very easy to make a mistake. I like to take my time when I stitch. By keeping focused, my attention to detail has grown pretty greatly. I’d rather get it right the first time than have to restart everything all over again.

It keeps me distracted

Similar to keeping focused, cross stitch helps distract me from whatever I have going on in my life. I look forward to being able to sit and cross stitch at the end of my day. Cross stitch is a top ‘downtime’ activity for me. Usually I like to catch up on some TV shows while I stitch. Between those two activities, I don’t have much space to think about anything else because I’m focused on finishing the project at hand. I also find that watching TV while I stitch helps me work faster.

Art trade with @gardevoirite_23! Check out her amazing work! This Togepi turned out really cute and I almost wish I wasn’t giving it away haha. Hope you like it! Pattern inspired by Bydrassil on deviantart.

A post shared by Kathleen (@kathleenxcrafts) on Sep 6, 2016 at 4:06pm PDT

It makes me feel accomplished

There’s nothing cooler than sitting back and looking at what you’ve made. You spend hours, days, sometimes weeks on projects that seem never-ending. But when you’re done, you can’t help but get a sense of accomplishment. The stress seems to disappear when you look at what you’ve finished and think, “Wow, I made this all by myself.” I love this feeling because it makes me feel proud of myself. It’s a great self-esteem booster and I find it pulls me out of a rut whenever I’m feeling down or stressed.

Above all, cross stitch helps me out the most because I love doing it. There’s no better way to de-stress than to do something that you thoroughly enjoy doing.