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Patch by Iris
The patch I have submitted is a cross stitched blue and purple iris on a peach background. The design is based on a pattern I bought from HelensCrossing on Etsy as I wasn’t sure how to stitch a free-hand iris. My grandmother, also called Iris, taught me how to cross-stitch, crochet and knit, starting with knitting when I was 12 and the rest following the first lockdown. Learning these techniques has proven incredibly helpful during my PhD, providing comfort and a meditative practice during a very stressful period in my life. Working on this patch during the last months of my PhD feels fitting, especially as my grandmother’s lessons have worked their way into my thesis, that now has a textile focus. So this is an iris stitched by one Iris thinking about another Iris, as well as William Carlos William’s poem: “source then a blue as/ of the sea/ struck/ startling us from among/ those trumpeting/ petals”.