My name is Melissa - I usually go by Measi (a childhood nickname) or Mel online. I'm married to a wonderful fellow geek named Erich. We live in the Providence, Rhode Island area (which really... unless you're near Newport, EVERYTHING is in the Providence area in Rhode Island). We are owned by six cats - Colley, Fizzy, Gus, Noby, Elly, and Hoodsie. No children (yet). Both of us work full time - I'm a secretary and Erich works in IT.

I'm a native Montanan who moved here for college and just fell in love with New England. I've now lived here for almost as long as I did in my hometown, and I think I'm now more at home here than there (even if I miss the Rockies from time to time).

I use Yuku entirely for contacts within the cross-stitch world. I've been stitching since I was 10, and have gone through spurts of loving the hobby, then falling out, and then coming back with a vengeance. Even though I have so many years in the hobby, I consider myself an early intermediate stitcher. I'm comfortable stitching Teresa Wentzler and other complex patterns, but I haven't yet had a lot of exposure to many stitches beyond cross stitch and chicken scratch. My favorite designers are Teresa Wentzler, Mirabilia, and Chatelaine. Someday I hope to do a historical reproduction sampler as well. I tend to lean toward fantasy and cat themed projects.

Aside from stitching, I love to read and play computer games (especially World of Warcraft). I'm just starting to get into gardening and cooking and while not a hobby, updating and redecorating my house is a large part of my life these days.

I do keep a blog, although I sometimes lapse at updating it. You'll find the link further down on the page.