Other interests
Embroidery & needlework
Writing and needlework share more than might seem obvious — both are slow, absorbing, and reward patience with something that feels entirely made. This page brings together two needlework traditions: punch needle embroidery and hand embroidery.
Punch needle embroidery
Santha Kutty
Punch needle embroidery is an ancient needlework technique in which a hollow metal tube with an eye is used to punch small loops into fabric, producing a dense, rug-like surface suited to wall hangings, cushion covers, throw rugs, and ornaments.
These pieces were made by Santha Kutty — Santhini's mother — who learned the craft at age ten in Tellicherry, Kerala, and later refined her technique in the United States, working with varying needle sizes and threads. The designs are based on botanical bird prints from an old calendar and on floral compositions, and were created entirely without commercial kits.
Painting with threads
Santhini Govindan
"Embroidery is one of the most serene, yet absorbing occupations I know of. It is an intense and solitary pastime, but watching a picture come alive, stitch by stitch…" Each piece in this collection was adapted from a painting, print, or photograph — sources ranging from a British needlework magazine to Chinese Hunan embroidery traditions to a Delta Airlines catalogue.
Forest Floor
Based on a pattern from a late 1980s issue of the British magazine Woman and Home. Features an American woodland scene with a squirrel, snail, and butterflies, embroidered in crewel wool on unbleached cotton.
Pink Peonies
Inspired by a New Year's card featuring the work of mouth and foot painting artist Wei-Der Chang. The aesthetic draws on traditional Chinese painting, rendered stitch by stitch in thread on fabric.
Botanical Circle
Based on a porcelain plate botanical print. Mounted on a canary yellow background that gives the piece a warm, gallery-like quality.
Canada Geese
Adapted from a 1991 New Year's card. Took approximately six months to complete, worked in browns, blues, and yellows.
Florals on Black
Embroidered flowers mounted in a round teak wood frame. The black background gives the colours a striking, jewel-like intensity.
Mountains in Spring Rain
A reproduction of Masakichi Aoyama's 1995 watercolour painting. Took eight months to complete, using crewel needles of varying thickness to capture the gradations of the original.
Seahorse
Adapted from a Delta Airlines catalogue puzzle called "Horsin Around" by Herb Schwartz (early 1990s). Worked on fine blue silk.
Chinese Hunan Embroidery I
A replication of a traditional Chinese Hunan embroidery design featuring children in ancient costumes, pomegranates, bamboo, and fish.
Chinese Hunan Embroidery II
A second piece in the Hunan style, worked with the same care for the original conventions of colour and composition.
Curtain Panel
Synthetic curtain fabric with embroidered flower highlights, wooden beads for stamens, velvet borders, and tussar silk mounting.
Winter Royalty
Inspired by Patricia Buckley Moss's rural winter landscape painting, capturing the stillness of a snow-covered scene.
Bird Watercolours
Two small pieces worked using leftover silk embroidery skeins, with crystal bead accents that catch the light.
Photography: V Santosh, Geeta Studio, Mumbai.
Hopping treasures
Frogs
"When visitors to my home walk over to take a closer look at the plants blooming on the window sills, they are usually surprised to notice the frogs perched on the flowerpots."
A long fascination with frogs and amphibians — and the inspiration behind Wally Grows Up (Children's Book Trust, 1994), her earliest picture book, featuring a tadpole character illustrated by Chaitali Chatterjee.
