Lost Dogs

by Karen J Mossman

In 2015 I was involved in an ill fated Round Robin. This is where a group of cross stitchers get together, choose a theme, and stitch one square each. They then pass it (post it) to the next person to stitch and eventually it arrives back with the original owner.

My chosen subject was dogs, particularly because I have a Yorkie and had seen a lovely pattern I wanted to stitch. So I chose some other dogs to go with it, and stitched all the outline for the squares to match the number of people taking part.

I stitched my own over the month, as did everyone else with third. Then we posted to the next person along with the accompanying chart, thread and fabric.

Each person had their chosen subject, and these are the ones I stitched for the others in the group. It was fun because they were all different.

All was going well until I stopped receiving them. Gradually everybody was asking the same question. Where is the Round Robin? Weeks passed and we began to worry. Two of the girls went back through messages on a group Face ok chat. Eventually, they traced them back to a stitcher in London. She seemed to have all of the Round Robin, all of our work, threads and charts, and stopped communicating. Trying many times times to get hold of her, it was all to no avail.

We were scattered around the country and one of the stitchers was in the States. Luckily, she was able to stop hers being sent to this girl.

All looked lost until I spoke to a work colleague who lived in the capital often returning to the office we worked at in Manchester. He agreed to help out. I wrote  a registered letter telling this girl that someone would call round at a specific time and date to collect the Round Robin.

We waited with bated breathe, and he eventually sent a me a message to say he had got them. I was relieved but didn’t say anything to the others until I had them in my hand. Three weeks later I went to his house taking him a bottle of wine for his trouble. Although it was well worth it, it turned out be costly with the wine, registered letter, and returning the items to their owners.

When he handed it over, I opened the packet and mine was the only that wasn’t there. The Yorkshire terrier I’ had stitched had disappeared. When queried, the girl said she posted it, but it was never received by the next stitcher. I had to accept that after everything of mine was gone for ever. It was so upset.

The girl who originally organised the Round Robin asked me to post them all to her and she distribute them. She also said that she would arrange to have my Round Robin stitched again. Three of the girls volunteered to help and I supplied the chart and the three other dog charts, along with and the fabric once again. They said not to send the threads as they would use from their own stash.

I was thrilled they were doing this for me, and I couldn’t wait to receive it back.

Weeks turned into months and nothing arrived. I began to get that lump in my throat again. After everything that had gone on, I felt like I had been forgotten. I didn’t know who had my stitching and posted in a stitching group to see where it was. It turned out the girl who organised it, had lost her stitching mojo and hadn’t stitched and not passed it on. I began to wonder whether I would ever see it again.

The other three girls all agreed that they still wanted to to do it, so she posted it off and it landed with a lady called Amy, who was seemed really excited to receive it. She was so pleased, she asked if I would mind if she stitched all four of them! We continued to correspond through Facebook, as she gave me updates of her progress, but I wasn’t allowed to see it until it had finished. She felt like a surrogate mother to my babies!

Twelve months later the package finally arrived.

The colours are amazing and I loved the paw prints she added, too. I sent her the photo of me below, hoping she could see my huge smile.  I did wonder about making a cushion with it, but on seeing it, I feel a frame would do it justice and then it can be viewed frequently by everyone.

So thank you Amy Broadhurst.