Needlework – good for the circulation

OK everyone, brace yourselves. This whole “Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee” thing is really picking up speed now, and competition is particularly fierce in the consumer magazine sector.

Getting its retaliation in first, Future Publishing’s Cross Stitcher magazine has stolen a march on the other home-stitching titles. It is this week launching a Jubilee Special, comprising a giant souvenir sampler chart, two card mounts and a suspiciously vague collection of “various royal facts and photos”.

Apparently, anyone with a spare &£2.25 will be able to stitch a rather fetching crown, using gold metallic threads. This priceless masterpiece can then be displayed in the gold-embossed card frame provided. Ahhh.

But let’s not mock Cross Stitcher. We should bear in mind it has a higher circulation than NatMags’ Esquire magazine, according to ABC. So there.