Karma Charms are like prayers for your needles.
My ideas for the Karma Charms line came together in 2019 based on on my life experience in cross stitching and other fiber arts. I’m not the first stitcher who’s sensed the calm centered-ness that arises when my hands pull floss through fabric and my mind is still. Nor am I only one who’s ever sensed something like prayer moving through me as I stitched. In fact, every stitcher I’ve ever known has spoken about this phenomenon, at least casually or in passing. It’s a beneficent energy that flows from that still, quiet place into hands and needle, fibers joined together by a needle for generations to come. I also can’t be the only designer who’s ever tried to come up with charts that deliberately enhance that experience!
But, the “Karma Charms” line is my first attempt at designing with the concept of “intentional stitching” in mind.
Prayers for your needle
So, what are Karma Charms, you may be asking? One way to think of them is as avenues for meditation and contemplation, and a way to seal those calm, loving energies into a physical object as you stitch it.
They are containers for the “thoughts and prayers” that can too often sound hollow and insincere when not backed with action. To be blunt about it, they’re ways to put your hands and heart to work, rather than just your mouth. And when you’ve completed the last stitch and finished it for giving? They’re gifts that show you care, forever-gestures of the heart, laid into fabric stitch by stitch.
So, next time you’re thinking intimately about someone and want a way to let them know it, maybe one of our Karma Charms is the answer. Or perhaps you’ve gotten outraged all over again at more futile, needless deaths and need an outlet. Or you are hopeful and excited for a new birth? Or thinking scrupulously good thoughts for a friend or loved one and need a way to show it? Whether you’re dreaming a new dream, ready to smash the patriarchy, in love with someone new, or processing a loss, a Karma Charm might be exactly the stitchy prayer you’ve been looking for.
What’s goes into our Karma Charms designs?
As a design line, you’ll find some commonalities in all our Karma Charms. When you go looking for one, you can be reasonably sure that they’ll:
- favor simple, repetitive symbols
- use colors appropriate to the sentiment
- slide in somewhere around 100 x 100 stitches
- are suitable for nearly any skill level
- and include a bit of guidance for those new to intentional stitching.
Here are the first three Karma Charms from Grimalkin Crossing.
- Too Old for Snapchat Too Young for LifeAlert - November 2, 2023
- Fast 5: Ways to Destress Yourself with Cross Stitch! - October 31, 2023
- October 2023 is Menopause Awareness Month! - October 5, 2023
