Affordance aspects of cross stitching

According to Christiansen and Townsend, 2010, affordance is “the particular arrangement of objects in the environment” (p. 255). It is also the "interaction between an object and a person; the object's design suggests its purpose, function and usability and the user determines the object's affordances” (p. 255). There are several aspects of affordances some of which are communication, connections, and moral properties.

Before I explain the different aspects let me first tell you about the last time I did some work on a cross stitch. It was a few days ago. I collected my stuff from the bedroom and sat in the flat lounge. The flatmate had the TV on which was fine with me. I sat on the three seater couch as the flatmate was lying on the 2 seater, this still gave plenty of room for the other flatmate to sit down on the 3 seater when she came home. I used one of the cushions to spread out the threads, pattern and scissors in the middle of the couch.

Communication 
Communication can be send through doing this activity and interacting with other around me.

Although this activity is one that can only be done individually, its still allows me to communicate with others. Being in the lounge meant I was able to talk to the flatmates about how our days had been. They also asked what I was doing so I was able to share with them what the finish product would look like and what I had done so far. They complimented on how good it looked.

Connections

I chose to do my cross stitching in the lounge so it would enable bonding time with the flatmates as one hasn't long moved in. there are personal rules that I follow when doing my cross stitching in terms of where on the fabric I start and the direction of the crosses. I have make a couple cross stitches for family but this one I'm working on is one for myself. This skill was passed down to me from my grandmother and could be something that I can pass on to my children.

Moral properties

Doing the cross stitching is my way of expression who I am and what I like. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction to see the progress and final products especially when they are framed. This activity is something I can easily follow through to the end no matter how long it takes. Working on the cross stitch doesn't affect others around me in terms of what they want to do – i.e. they can still watch TV and chat to each other in the lounge when I'm there. I also respect the other flatmates by not making a mess in the lounge and cleaning up all my stuff afterwards.