Fifth In-Depth Blog Post [2022]

Good day, and welcome to my fifth in-depth blog post of the school year (besides the introductory one). I will answer some questions about how mentoring is going and give a thorough progress report.

1. What kinds of learning opportunities does the mentor provide to expose you to new learning?

My mentor provides me with learning opportunities like gifts of new patterns or embroidery guidebooks. I have come pretty far in cross-stitch pretty fast and she gave me a book of general embroidery info so I can expand my horizons and continue to learn if I wish to. She also makes sure to encourage my practicing, as that is the most important part of this entire process. 

2. What kinds of learning opportunities exist to reinforce new learning?

I am always expected to practice exercises like stitching in straight lines or working on a specific project between meetings. Mostly my mentor just likes to check in on me and give me support, but she believes in learning by doing so a lot of the reinforcement is just practice. 

3. What kinds of opportunities exist that might accelerate learning?

Well, I got a great opportunity when my mentor’s daughter came into town and I got to learn some more in person! Face-to-face visual learning is so much easier as sometimes those little tiny stitches get lost in the shuffle over a video call. My mentor also showed me a book of embroidery patterns besides cross-stitch that could help me get an understanding of the medium as a whole. Additionally, she mentioned something about a pattern kit she might send over to me in the mail for me to try, but I did not hear her all that well. Occasionally she sends me pictures and videos of other people’s tatreez and thobes so I can get more immersed in the culture and learning, like this TikTok: 

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLbRjccD/

4. When you get together what do you talk about?

Mostly how our lives are going and what crafting projects we are working on. The last time I called my mentor she was working on shaping these cookie-like desserts while we discussed what I was working on and what I want to learn next. I told her about both my cross-stitch and sewing projects and she told me about her daughter (who has been a kind of stand-in mentor for me these past few weeks) and her delayed flight home. My mentor asks what I want to learn next and what I need help with, and loves to support me and my work by encouraging me and giving me compliments. 

5. What is going particularly well in your mentoring relationship right now?

The easygoingness and the levels of support I am experiencing. Even though my mentor is old enough to be my grandma, talking to her feels like talking to a friend and she really treats me like either an equal or other times like her own granddaughter. She takes in my suggestions/ideas, talks about life while we stitch together and gives me great advice, but also loves to support me, compliment my progress and send me small presents in the mail the way a family member would. I am truly so grateful to have her and also grateful for the additional opportunity that the arrival of her daughter gave me because I also got to learn a lot more in person. 

6. What are you learning about one another?

I am learning that my mentor is an incredibly patient person who loves to give people gifts and never really stops making little crafts that cheer people up. Whether they are cookies or crochet throws/blankets or pieces of embroidery, she never stops making and she never stops giving either. I also understand that she understands the value of practice and that she thinks I should “learn by doing” whenever possible. I get the impression that she just works and works at something until she improves and I think she expects the same thing from me. I am not sure what she is learning about me but I do hope it is positive. She really is a great example and I also aspire to be a thoughtful gift-giver and a patient skill-acquirer. I think she is impressed with my eagerness to learn and my effort in improving my stitches. I hope so!

As for my progress, I am almost done working on my very first project! The newest addition to my small mediocre bookmark collection, this expands on a pattern in my pattern sampler that I absolutely love, the moon/milling wheel geometric symbol. I am yet to finish the design; I have some borders, embellishments and the bottom part to finish, and I am using this picture (the one with the blue and red) as a reference.

I have also shown great improvement in the neatness of the back of my stitches, to the point where the before and after pictures (shown below) are outstanding! This conserves thread and also makes it a lot easier to embroider the final details or undo mistakes. 

I learned a faster way to do my half cross stitches so that I could get projects done quicker. Basically, it involves both entering and exiting the back of the fabric at once, so when you pull, you make the whole stitch, rather than having to pull it all the way through on either side. Hopefully, this picture will enhance my description.

Next, I am going to be working on using waste canvas so that I can use this type of embroidery on non-Aida fabric and even put it on my clothing or tote bags.

Thank you for reading, and have a great day!