When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents’ house. My grandma had filled her walls with the beautiful creations she had made, cross-stitching impressive sceneries of British cottages and gardens. She cross-stitched Disney cartoons for me, like Lady and the Tramp and Mickey Mouse. After school, I would sit at the table with her, playing games while she worked on another big project. It would take her years to finish these massive works, which she would frame after completing them. At some point, she would have no room left on the walls, so she gifted some small ones to me.

While playing my games on her computer or while playing with my own toys, I would often watch how she cross-stitched all these works. She would explain to me how she makes little crosses and does that many, many times in a lot of different colours and that that would create a beautiful bigger picture. I got a small piece of fabric, yarn and a needle that was not too sharp and she let me try for my own. As a little kid, this didn’t intrigue me enough to keep trying; I was rather frustrated that I couldn’t make the same things she made, right away. But when I got a little older and I got into high school, my slightly improved patience and motivation ‘crossed’ the interest in her works again. This time, I tried again and managed to implement my hyperfocus back then, Inazuma Eleven, into the equation. This helped me to start up my first project. As expected, I soon lost interest, but I always kept the work with the intention to finish it someday.