If the Point Is to Unwind, Grab a Needle--and Checkbook--and Go

When the kids have spent your patience, the plumber’s stood you up and it’s too dark to go jogging, needlepoint offers a sane and productive alternative.

There’s a Zen to it that’s centering, but there’s more--something beautiful is developing slowly before your eyes. That’s precisely why needlepoint has become so popular among professionals who enjoy the outlet and can afford it.

“Unlike decoupage or pottery, needlepoint has always been a carriage trade, enjoyed by the upper class,” says Lani Silver, owner of Lani’s Needlepoint in Studio City.

This is necessarily so if you develop a taste for hand-painted canvases and the finest fibers. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a canvas, to which you apply yarn a la paint by numbers. Add to that the specialty fibers, hundreds of hours of work, plus the cost of finishing, which usually includes professional blocking and framing, backing or finishing, and you’ll realize this is no way to make a living.

Still, it is a great way to unwind.

Typically stitchers use wool, cotton or silk thread. However, today’s needlepointers are taking great liberties with both stitches and fibers. Usually under the direction of a needlepoint mentor, stitchers can create masterpieces interweaving multiple stitches and such exotic fibers as suede, metallic, nylon that looks wet, Angora and patent leather.

A poor mix can look as appealing as Dennis Rodman in drag.

Done well, it can become a family heirloom.

The new breed of needlepointer doesn’t stop at pillows and wall art; they are whipping up tote bags, purses, pen boxes, eyeglass cases, vests, jacket backs, keepsake baby booties, belts and Christmas stockings--priceless inventory for the next generation of estate sales.

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The Internet is a great resource for beginners. There are dozens of Web sites; some offering primers and diagrams of specific stitches.

You can launch your initial search by using the words “needlepoint” or “tapestry needles.”

Here are a few sites you may encounter:

* A Guide to Needlepoint. Beginner level basics from the Needlepoint Group, a group of design companies. https://www.crossstitching.com/npg/index.html

* ANG: What is Needlepoint? Community projects stitched by American Needlepoint Guild members. https://www.needlepoint.org/whatis.htm

* Finished Needlepoint Appraisals. https://www.canvasthepoint.com/bbs/article/2570.html

* Needlepoint stores on the Web: https://needlepoint.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa051197.hym