On Sunday, the Anchorage Public Library hosted the Bookmark Make-It-Take-It sponsored by Arctic Needle, Funk & Weber Designs, and the Arctic Needleworkers embroidery guild. Members of the community, some with stitching experience and some without, came to the library and learned to stitch and finish a bookmark.

Participants chose Aida or canvas in a variety of counts and colors then selected 6-strand embroidery floss from The Gentle Art or DMC. Felt from Weeks Dye Works and ribbon donated by guild members completed the bookmarks.

Participants had a choice of stitching the Read ambigram pattern from last year, or an initial or word from this year’s alphabet pattern. A couple of ambitious stitchers began “escape” and “dream” bookmarks. One teen chose to design numbers to go with her letters for a 2-sided bookmark: her initials on one side, her birth year on the other. A mother-daughter team turned the event into a competition. (Hey, I had nothing to do with this. It just goes to show, I’m not alone in my Life’s-A-Game and Everything’s-A-Competition mentality.) Once again, a kid prevails over an adult. No surprise there, really; however, I think it bears mentioning that the kid’s initial has almost twice as many stitches as her mother’s. Ahem.

Anyone who didn’t finish his/her bookmark is invited to bring it to Arctic Needle whenever the stitching is complete. Karen will help you finish it.

And remember, Karen is collecting bookmarks to be donated to the library from now through May 8th.

Stay tuned in the coming days for more pictures.