At first glance, nothing seems out of the ordinary inside Northside’s The Hoop & Needle, an easily recognizable needlecraft supply shop nestled on Hamilton Avenue with a bright teal and playfully decorated façade. But it doesn’t take long for customers to realize that the store is a far cry from traditional.
“Don’t be a douche,” an embroidered piece implores, written in thick purple font and surrounded by pink flowers and butterflies. “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,” another reads. A third, inside a thick black frame, is situated beside the cash register: “Thomas Kinkade can suck my dick.”
The woman behind the unexpectedly edgy shop is Hoop & Needle owner Sarah Fisher, who picked up cross-stitching at the age of 10.
“Most cross-stitch stores are just old-time samplers — very traditional,” Fisher says. “I’ve always loved it, but I never actually finished any of my projects because I just didn’t like what was available.”
Traditionally, embroidered pieces portray sublime images and sayings — think flowers, birds and a butterfly or two fluttering around phrases like “Home is where the heart is.” So when Fisher picked up cross-stitching — a type of embroidery that uses partial and X-shaped stitches to create images — again as an adult, she began designing patterns of her own.
Enter Purple Hippo Stitches, a modern line of cross-stitch patterns, kits and completed pieces Fisher established in 2009. The pieces, all designed by Fisher, are a far cry from the embroidery of old: Pink flowers flank the words “nature is bullshit,” men and women hold hands above the statement “I hate people” and ostentatious orange letters spell out the word “hussy.” Incorporating colorful pop culture references and an array of four-letter words (the store’s best-sellers), other phrases include “treat yo self” and “riding dirty,” the latter scrawled beneath the image of an old-fashioned car.
Donnell, assistant director of the University of Cincinnati’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning, became familiar with Purple Hippo Stitches through Fisher’s involvement with local craft show Crafty Supermarket. When Fisher put out a call for artists to create Christmas ornaments for The Hoop & Needle, Donnell jumped at the opportunity.
“My mom taught me how to cross-stitch when I was in second grade, and I have always created art for fun and a way to relax,” Donnell says. “I am currently working on a few geometric and colorful designs as well as a Cincinnati series.”
Two of Donnell’s kits are currently available at The Hoop & Needle: the “Queen City Mascot” depicting a flying pig and the “Music Hall Mandala” inspired by Music Hall’s characteristic rose window.
In October of last year, Donnell taught a class at The Hoop & Needle on her “Music Hall Mandala” design — a natural step, she says, because education is her passion.
“We all had a blast, and the participants enjoyed having a bit of freedom in the pattern to choose the colors to fill in the window,” she says.
She plans on teaching a “Queen City Mascot” class in 2017 as well as a session on a new design yet to be announced. Class participants range from embroidery experts to those brand new to the craft like Krystan Krailler, who picked up the needle for the first time during Donnell’s Music Hall class.
“I had never done a stitch of embroidery before that night, but I have always appreciated it and wanted to see if it was something I’d enjoy doing as a hobby,” Krailler says. “We left the class with partially complete pieces to continue on our own, but were told to stop in any time if we had any questions or needed help. I was able to complete the piece on my own and loved every second of it.”
Krailler says she enjoyed the class so much she quickly signed up for another — this time with several friends in tow.
“Handmade items are rare today, and it is always thrilling to be able to create a piece from start to finish and have the satisfaction of knowing you created something no one else has done,” Krailler says. “It’s even more special to be able to give those gifts to others and know that they were given something they couldn’t get anywhere else.”
One of the store’s most popular classes, Fisher says, is the Color Wheel Sampler, a multiple-week course in which participants experiment with 10 different types of stitches. Each stich is done in a separate color, creating a filled-in color wheel.
“By the end, you have something that tells you all the stitches that you learned, but also looks good enough to hang up,” Fisher says.
Other events include Stitch ’N Sip, a themed evening held every month during which participants can bring in their own knitting or embroidery projects — plus booze — or opt to buy a new kit to work on. Friendly cats and canines are invited to accompany their people. The most recent installment, held on Oct. 25, had a Stranger Things theme — aka “Stranger Stitchings.”
With the holidays approaching, the store is turning its attention to an enticing new endeavor: a pop-up shop situated within the old bank vault — a contraption that looks straight out of Fallout with a 2,000-plus-pound door. Dubbed the Maker Vault, the consignment shop will run throughout November and December and feature handmade items from artists in and beyond Cincinnati. Fisher, who participates in local art shows like Crafty Supermarket and Cincy Summer Streets, sees the pop-up as a way to bring artists together while harkening back to her roots.
“Before I did the (Hoop & Needle), I was mainly doing shows, especially around the Christmas season,” Fisher says. “It’s really just kind of where I started meeting all the people who are my friends today.”
About 20 artists working in a variety of categories will participate in the Maker Vault, with products ranging from needlecraft and fiber to jewelry, wax products and paper goods. Donnell will showcase what Fisher has dubbed “aggressive embroidery” — she characteristically uses a thinner canvas for her work and six threads of floss as opposed to the typical two.
“I have never been one to like patterns very much, so I enjoy creating designs that allow people to add a bit of their personality and make it their own,” she says.
Other participating local makers include Jessica Wolf of Paper Acorn, purveyor of handmade paper goods and DIY crafting kits; Leslie Hiller of baby toy and clothing shop The Huggable Hedgehog; and nature-inspired illustrator, designer and sculptor Ryan McNeely of Ryan McNeely Art.
Each week throughout the vault’s run, one to two makers will be featured in The Hoop & Needle’s prominent window overlooking Hamilton Avenue. The shop will also have extended holiday hours: 2-6 p.m. Tuesday, noon-7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. The vault officially opens Nov. 1.
“I’ve always kind of wanted to have my own little hand-made store to show off all kinds of offbeat artists,” Fisher says, drawing ties to the store’s nontraditional approach to embroidery.
So, to quote one of Fisher’s many eclectic pieces: “Let’s get this party started.”
THE HOOP & NEEDLE is located at 4019 Hamilton Ave. in Northside. For more information, visit thehoopandneedle.com.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 2, 2016.
