Here’s my update from the beach! Kate, Lydia, Barb, Matt and I are all in Avalon, NJ right now, and we’re all working on our projects.

Matt was interested in my MOL Alligator project. Suddenly, he decided that he should needlepoint a 1960s Gary Grimshaw flyer for proto-punk band MC5 (he came across the flyer in the book he’s been reading at the beach.)

He spent the next 48 hours — almost nonstop — doing art, first in Photoshop and then in Pixen, then he made a trip to Scrim Discovery Needle Work in Ocean City to get some 18-count canvas, a frame, yarn, and a bunch of Sharpies. And he’s been carefully transferring the design from his computer screen to the canvas, using the “make a reference dot every 10 threads” method that I came up with for the MOL gator.

Matt’s plan is to stitch up the pattern, then sew it to the back of a Jeans jacket. I think it’s going to be incredibly great. You can see Matt’s pattern on the left (I’ve hidden the grid-lines and the reference dots that he used.)

Matt walked into Scrim Discovery in a pair of white jeans and a captain’s hat from Hoy’s. He reports that the real-estate agent next door rushed out and tried to head him off before he walked in the store: “Can I *HELP* you, sir!?” No, he said, he was there for the needlepoint, and the agent looked perplexed.

I went in today wearing my pith helmet (and we planned to send Jonathan in tomorrow with a lampshade on his head), so the real-estate agent would think that, uh… I’m not sure what they would think: needlepoint was suddenly becoming popular with seventies adventure-sitcom characters? But the store took it 110% in stride, and I have a new favorite needlepoint store. They were really great, and really helpful.

if you are planning on doing your own beach needlepoint project involving psychedelic federal eagle/television/Illuminati Eyeball combinations, all festooned with jagged crepuscular rays and lightning bolts, and you are wearing a crusader helmet, a fez, or viking horns, I absolutely recommend Scrim Discovery as your shop of choice!