About The Primitive Needle

The Primitive Needle was originally created by my mom, Lisa Roswell. I’m her daughter, Mariah, and I grew up watching her passion for counted cross stitch come to life. She was incredibly creative and had a special love for all things Halloween, which often inspired her designs.

When she began creating her own counted cross stitch patterns, they quickly gained recognition within the cross stitch community. I was a teenager at the time, and I remember spending hours helping her print, organize, and prepare her patterns for distribution. I even had the chance to join her at a few cross stitch markets—memories I’ll always treasure.

In 2011, my mom passed away unexpectedly. Over time, The Primitive Needle patterns became increasingly difficult to find, and our family began receiving many requests to purchase remaining charts or acquire the rights to her designs. We’ve held onto the originals for sentimental reasons, and it never felt right to sell the rights to her work.

For years, I considered bringing her patterns back, but the idea felt overwhelming. With young children and a busy life, I didn’t have the capacity to manage printing and shipping. On top of that, I couldn’t access her computer, which held the original digital files.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that these designs deserved to be shared. My mom believed deeply in following your intuition, and she always encouraged me to trust mine. That quiet pull eventually led me to explore new possibilities, and I discovered that cross stitch patterns could be digitized and offered online.

That discovery marked the beginning of this journey—digitizing The Primitive Needle designs and creating a space where they can once again be enjoyed. This project is truly a labor of love, and I’m honored to continue sharing a piece of my mom’s creativity with others.

I have not yet completed all of her designs but am working to make them available on the website as I complete each one. I make announcements on Instagram and Facebook in addition to sending an e-mail to subscribers when each design is digitized.

If you have feedback or requests, I welcome you reaching out to me at primitiveneedle@gmail.com. 

Happy Stitching! 

 

Mom and I at our family's annual Christmas Eve party that my mom always hosted. Taken in December 2010. 

 

L to R: My brother, Ryan, my dad, my mom, myself, and my brother, Cody. Allie and Popper are the doggos :) 

Mom and I in TN. 

 

Mom in her beloved VW Beetle convertible. 

Mom loved horseback riding. This was taken just before she unfortunately broke her ankle when the horse was spooked and dragged mom by her leg.