Wednesday 13 July 2011

Cross Stitch: Wheel of the Year - Week 1



Well, I'm not as far along as I'd like to be, but I had a busy weekend. We had an overnight guest on Saturday night, so it got set in the dining room. Doing that makes it less likely for me to randomly pick my work up and add. But, I am happy with how much I do have done, even amongst some other frustrations.

Frustration 1:  I've realised that I miscounted by 2 inches on my waste canvas, on either side. It could be that I didn't actually miscount or mismeasure. I'm using a cross stitch design program that I've not used before, so I could have easily put a figure in wrong. Not a particularly big deal...I have more waste canvas and I can tack more on to the edges when I'm ready for that bit.

Frustration 2: I could really use with a proper embroidery floor stand. I have a 24 inch frame that I am balancing against my laptop stand and arm. Not a real issue, just annoying. At least it lets me multi-task...watch telly, watch Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, and stitch all at once. Hmm...that may be a touch of the reason why I don't have as much done as I'd like. But, I do most of my stitching in the evening, and the social networks are the majority of my social life.

Frustration 3: Energy saving bulbs suck. Even with having the brightest eco bulb available in my living room light, it's way too dim for me. I'm going quite short-sighted and seriously need more light. I finally clicked and realised this evening that my clip light for my Kindle fits quite nicely on the top of my frame. Shame that I can't find the battery charger, because the batteries are all flat, and I can't find the spare set of non-rechargeables that I keep around for just in case. Granted, they probably landed into a remote or something when I couldn't find the spare rechargeables.

I'd normally work on it until midnight, but my eyes are starting to do funny things, so I'd probably better not. I think I'll probably just go veg and watch "Lady Gaga Presents" that I'm recording. I'm pretty sure I'll find the battery charger tomorrow, and having the clip light will make a huge difference to the work I can do after I lose daylight.

Mel

2 comments:

Kitty said...

Have you tried changing your lampshade? It was really dark in Junior's room (as you know) but we have changed the lampshade and it's made a HUGE difference.

If you can't afford a floor stand how about a lap stand instead? Same thing as a floor stand, just shorter :)

Looking forward to seeing your cross stitch grow. You never know, I may even end up crafting myself again sometime soon.

BTW, the word verification was 'schnerp'. I like the sound of that word - if it is a word. :) Simple pleasures, eh?

Melissa Wheeler said...

Bill and I changed the lampshade to a downlighter a while back because they originally had an uplighter and I was getting headaches from the lack light. I can understand an uplighter in a bedroom, but not in the living room. I think that repainting will help.

I'm looking for lapstands, as well, but it's finding one that can support the frame. I've been searching through a lot of eBay lately.

BTW, I just remembered last night that I need to replace the nuts and bolts in your frame...so sorry :(