Needlepoint has its own little language.

If you’re new, you may hear someone say something like, “I’m bringing my WIP to my LNS because I need fibers for an 18 mesh canvas and to shop the trunk show before it ends," and wonder if you accidentally walked into a very charming code-breaking convention.

You did not.

Needlepoint terms can sound intimidating at first, but most of them are simple once someone explains them in normal human language. So here’s a beginner-friendly glossary of words and phrases you may hear around the Shoppe.

• Canvas: The foundation of your needlepoint project. Most needlepoint canvases have an open grid, and many designs are painted or printed directly onto the canvas so you can stitch over them.
  
  
• Painted Canvas: A canvas where the design has already been painted onto the grid. This gives you a clear visual guide for where colors and design elements go.
• Mesh: The size of the canvas grid, usually described by how many holes there are per inch. A lower mesh number means larger holes, while a higher mesh number means smaller holes and often more detail.
• 13 Mesh: A common canvas size with larger holes, making it a popular choice for beginners and projects that use slightly thicker fibers. It can feel easier to see and stitch, especially when you’re starting out.
• 18 Mesh: A finer canvas with smaller holes, often used for more detailed designs. It may take a little more patience, but it can create a beautiful, polished finished piece.
• Fiber: The thread or material you use to stitch your canvas. Fibers can be wool, silk, cotton, metallic, blends, or specialty options that add texture, shine, softness, or drama.
• Thread: Often used interchangeably with fiber, though “fiber” is the broader term. Either way, this is the good stuff that brings your canvas to life.
  
  
• Skein: A bundle of thread or fiber. It may look simple, but opening one neatly can feel like a tiny rite of passage.
• Strand: Some threads are made up of multiple smaller strands that can be separated and used in different amounts depending on the canvas and desired look. This is one of those details that makes more sense once you’ve done it once or twice.
• Needle: Needlepoint usually uses a blunt tapestry needle, which passes through the canvas holes instead of piercing the canvas threads. The needle size depends on the canvas mesh and fiber you’re using.
• Tapestry Needle: A blunt-tipped needle used for needlepoint. It has a larger eye to hold thicker fibers and a rounded tip that helps protect the canvas.
• Stitch: The basic movement of thread through canvas. Some stitches are simple and smooth, while others create texture, pattern, movement, or decorative effects.
• Tent Stitch: A family of basic diagonal stitches often used in needlepoint. Many beginners start here because tent stitches are useful, classic, and create full coverage.
• Basketweave: A type of tent stitch often used for larger background areas because it helps reduce canvas distortion. It may sound fancy at first, but once you see the rhythm, it starts to click.
• Continental Stitch: Another type of tent stitch that creates diagonal stitches on the front of the canvas. It’s useful in many areas and is often one of the first stitches needlepoint beginners learn.
• Decorative Stitch: A stitch used to add texture, pattern, or dimension beyond basic coverage. Decorative stitches can make backgrounds, borders, clothing, water, skies, and tiny canvas details feel extra special.
• Stitch Guide: A set of instructions or recommendations for how to stitch a canvas. It may suggest which stitches and fibers to use in different areas of the design.
• Stretcher Bars: Wooden bars used to hold your canvas taut while you stitch. They can help keep the canvas from warping and make stitching more comfortable.
  
  
• Tacks: Small nails or pins used to attach the canvas to stretcher bars. They keep everything secure while you stitch.
• Frame: A tool that holds your canvas while you stitch. Some stitchers love using frames; others prefer holding the canvas in their hands.
• Laying Tool: A tool used to help smooth and align threads as you stitch. It can be especially helpful with flat or shiny fibers that look best when they lie neatly.
• Needle Minder: A small magnetic accessory that holds your needle when you’re not using it. It is both practical and dangerously collectible.
  
  
• Threader: A small tool that helps guide fiber through the eye of the needle. Very useful when your thread, your needle, and your patience are not cooperating.
• Frogging: The process of removing stitches when you need to fix something. It gets its name from “rip it, rip it,” which is both silly and unfortunately accurate.
• Compensation: Adjusting a stitch to fit around a shape, curve, or edge of a design. It’s how stitchers make decorative stitches behave themselves in tight spaces.
• Finishing: The process of turning your stitched canvas into its final form, like an ornament, pillow, belt, stocking, framed piece, keychain, or accessory. Finishing is where the magic really comes together.
• Self-Finishing: A project or item designed so you can insert your stitched canvas yourself without sending it out for professional finishing. Great for stitchers who like a quicker path from “done stitching” to “look what I made.”
• Blocking: The process of straightening a stitched canvas if it has become warped or distorted. This often happens before finishing.
• Ornament: A small finished piece, often seasonal or decorative. Ornaments are popular needlepoint projects because they’re giftable, collectible, and deeply satisfying to finish.
• Belt Canvas: A long, narrow canvas designed to be finished into a belt. These projects are personal, practical, and often a very fun way to stitch something someone will actually wear.
• Pillow Canvas: A canvas designed to be finished into a pillow. Pillow projects are usually a bigger commitment, but the finished result can be beautiful and very worth it.
• WIP: Short for “work in progress.” This is the project you are currently stitching — or at least one of the projects you are currently stitching.
  
• UFO: Short for “unfinished object.” This is a project that has been gently ignored for a while, possibly because another canvas came along and made eye contact.
• Stash: Your personal collection of canvases, fibers, tools, and supplies. A stash can begin innocently and then expand in ways no one needs to discuss too closely.
• Kitted Project: A canvas paired with the fibers and supplies needed to stitch it. Kitting a project before you begin can make the whole process feel much easier.
• Trunk Show: A special event or limited-time collection featuring canvases from a specific designer or brand. Trunk shows are a great way to discover new designs and, yes, possibly fall in love with more than one canvas.
• LNS: Short for “local needlepoint shop.” Your LNS is the place you go for canvases, fibers, classes, help, encouragement, and the occasional “yes, you do need that project” moment.
• Stitch Night: A gathering where people bring their projects and stitch together. It’s part crafting, part community, and part excellent excuse to leave the house with a tote full of thread.
  
  
• Class: A guided learning session where you can build skills, ask questions, and get more comfortable with needlepoint. Classes are especially helpful when you’re new or ready to try something beyond the basics.
• Canvas Crawl: An event or promotion where stitchers visit multiple needlepoint shops, often in person or online. It is exactly the kind of thing that sounds casual until your project list grows dramatically.
• Needlepoint Community: The people who stitch, teach, design, shop, encourage, enable, and celebrate the craft. It’s one of the best parts of needlepoint, and there’s always room for one more stitcher.

Needlepoint terms may feel like a lot at first, but you do not need to learn them all before you start. You can pick them up the same way you pick up the craft: one stitch, one project, and one “wait, what does that mean?” at a time.

And when in doubt, ask us. We’re happy to translate : )