Hand embroidery

Hand embroidery is something that I hated for years before finally falling in love with it some 7-8 years ago. I have always seen my Mother embroidering since ages but I always avoided it. May be this was because we had been forced to learn and do embroidery in school. There was a mental block against embroidery and anything to do with needle and thread.
It was the summer when I graduated from college and I had plenty of time on my hands, not knowing what to do to while away my time. That is when I saw my younger sister take a keen interest in embroidery. First out of curiosity, and then later with genuine interest, I learnt the basics of embroidery all over again from Mom. Slowly, I got so occupied and enthralled by embroidery, that most of my waking hours would be spent doing one design after the other.  One by one, I learnt new stitches like shadow work, Kutch work, Kasuthi work, ribbon work, etc.   I was involved so passionately with embroidery, that my mind was racing against time to learn new stitches, create new patterns, try new methods of embroidery. I wished there were more hours in a day so that I could get more and more time to devote to this art. I just loved to play with colours, different techniques, use different types of cloth, etc.  People started noticing our work and appreciating it and some of them started requesting that we do some hand embroidery for them on saris, suits, etc.  Initially we did it for free, never thinking about money. Embroidery was just a passion shared between us three women, Mom, sis and me.  But soon more and more people appreciated our work, some  suggested, and some even insisted that we take monetary compensation for our work as it involves a lot of our time and effort.   Soon we were inundunted with orders for more saris, suits etc.  Check this orkut album for some of our works.  This continued for the last 7-8 years, when finally at the beginning of this year, I had to stop doing embroidery because of my weak shoulder.  That is when I took up the hook and  began crocheting, another creative art that I learnt in school.
I just love creating something with my own hands. I love it when I have a choice of colours to mix and match and something totally different is created. I love it when my hands are busy, because when my hands are busy, my mind remains active, my creativity remains active and I am free from all negative thoughts. I have loved each and every creation of mine because if I don't like what I do, I dismantle it, be it embroidery or crochet, and it sure does pay dividends, when people appreciate my work. Thanks everyone for appreciating my work and for motivating me to do better and better.