THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407130153
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08K EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Ten years ago Chuck H. Nelson's former wife was making a mess of a counted cross-stitch picture of a Siamese cat.
``She got the thread all tangled up and got fed up with it, so I said let me give it a try,'' recalled Nelson, 68.
The retired journalist and one-time Navy chief put his fingers to the needle and got hooked. Nelson not only finished the cat, but started buying his own patterns and supplies. These days he sits and stitches eight to 14 hours at a stretch. Nelson's palms are baby soft with not even a thumb callous from needles.
The fruits of his labors are all over his Columbus Station East townhome. A series of cross-stitched Revolutionary War soldiers in American and European uniforms are lined up above the mantel. Romantic pictures of embracing lovers are on a neighboring wall. Scores of framed lighthouse pictures flank a staircase that leads to the second floor.
He gives some of his work away as gifts to friends, his seven children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The rest - and there's a lot of it - he sells at a Christmas craft show for senior citizens. He always takes an unfinished project with him to work on because shoppers can't believe he is the avid stitcher.
Male needleworkers aren't so unusual says Beverly Kingsley, owner of the hook and i, a needlework supply shop in the Haygood area for 20 years.
``Rosey Grier, the football player, opened the closet for male stitchers about 20 years ago with his book on needlepoint,'' Kingsley said. ``After that, all the men said, `Hey, if it's OK for this big football player to do needlepoint, it's OK for me.' ''
Several men stop in at the Haygood shop each week.
Some buy needlepoint supplies. But most prefer the smaller, fine work of cross-stitch. They buy patterns with nautical themes, like lighthouses, sports designs or animals. A replica of the Monopoly game board is also a hot seller.
``Men make excellent stitchers, especially surgeons,'' said Kingsley, who has taught men in her needlework classes. She said the average male needleworker tends to be in his 50s and does it as a hobby.
``A lot of our repeat customers are Navy men who have so much time on their hands on ships when they're away. They buy things before they go on cruise,'' Kingsley said. The servicemen aren't shy about their hobby, she said. They shop in uniform and, Kingsley added, laughing, ``They don't ask for plain brown wrappers.''
Nelson, 26 years in the Navy under his belt, isn't shy about his hobby, either. He said he's taught several Navy servicemen how to cross-stitch. He recently boasted to a sales clerk about having found patterns featuring African-Americans in an out-of-state shop.
He takes special orders for his work. He pointed to an aerial view of Colonial Williamsburg hanging beside the fireplace.
``That's fun. But if you get one stitch wrong it throws the whole thing off,'' he said. Norman Rockwell reproductions are his favorites. He also likes lighthouses and falls into Navy lingo as he shows off a series hanging in a ``passageway,'' his staircase.
While he works, sitting in a rose velvet easy chair, Nelson watches sports and old movies on TV. He also listens to Glenn Miller tunes on the radio. For four years before his retirement from the Navy in 1968, he was news director of Armed Forces radio in Saigon. He also worked as news director of WNOR radio in Norfolk.
Nelson buys his canvas by the bolt and arranges his 360 colors of thread - two skeins of each - in plastic bins. He's developed his own rules for stitching. Most needlework manuals advise using lengths of thread cut to 18 inches.
``My thread is 6-feet-long,'' Nelson said. ``I just twist the needle toward me after each stitch and that keeps it from tangling . . . a little trade secret.''
Nelson also scoffs at the idea that needlework should be treated gently. ``I throw them in the washer and dryer, spray starch the backs and press them,'' he said.
His stitches look as neat on the backs of his pictures as on the fronts. He finishes and frames his work himself and has a goal of making 250 pictures by fall, in time for the Senior Crafters Christmas Shop. He has 130 done now. Small pictures sell for $25, larger ones go for $60.
``It's a good hobby, keeps me out of trouble. When you're retired, what else are you going to do. I can't play golf all the time,'' he grinned. ``Course if I get a girlfriend, I'll be doing less and less cross-stitch.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Chuck Nelson, who is retired from the Navy, does cross stitch and
sells his work at crafts shows.
Chuck Nelson's favorite patterns to cross stitch are Norman Rockwell
art works like this one of two young lovers.
SENIOR CRAFT SHOP
The Senior Crafters Christmas Shop, in its 20th year, is a
showcase for the work of up to 300 senior citizens. It is held in
Virginia Beach each fall from mid-October to mid-December.
Participants are 55 and older.
The show and sale is held in vacant office buildings or
complexes. In the past, the space has been donated by area
commercial real estate companies.
``We need a large location, more than 7,000 square feet,'' said
Frances Murray, a Norfolk resident who now runs the show. ``Last
year I called 30 real estate companies and only about three seemed
interested in trying to help.''
Organizers of the Senior Crafters Christmas Shop can be reached
at 588-8571.
by CNB