An eye opener

While watching Stitching in the Barn's video featuring Kay and her lovely home filled with samplers, I learned that the Dazor lamp company offers add-a-lens for their circline model.  Purchased separately, it is added to the bottom and attached to the two screws as an additional lens.  A 5 diopter lens can also be purchased and installed in place of the standard 3.  Another realization was that wearing +4.0 glasses (which is the diopter or curve) does not mean 4x magnification (it's 2x).  Who knew?  You and my husband, not me.  

Wearing magnifier glasses in conjunction with these lenses is a little tricky.  This 3 diopter lens alone is actually better and clearer than my Foster Grant 4.0 glasses.  Looking through the lens AND wearing the glasses, required me to pull the lens closer to my face and the linen closer to the lens.  Without the glasses, I needed to hold the linen further from the Dazor and had crystal clear excellent vision.  Their lenses are optical grade distortion free glass.

This is what it looked like through the glasses at a normal distance, much larger, totally blurred.  The closer I got to the Dazor, it became smaller and clearer, but I had to also bring the fabric closer.  I couldn't get the linen weave any larger with the glasses and changes in position than using the lens alone.  I am so confused.

My husband is very smart (I'm the smart-ass) and he failed to explain this to my satisfaction.  I don't get it.  Doesn't matter, I'm just surprised at the clarity from the light and 3 diopter lens.  I will first try stitching with just the mag light and no glasses.  My test was on 28 count, later today I will pull a piece of 35 and see how it looks.

From Dazor's website, here is an example of looking through the 3 and 5 diopter lens and also a chart showing the distance from the lens required for clarity.

Looks like a 5 still allows plenty of room for stitching with 8".  The field of vision gets smaller as the diopter rises also, but still enough to see surrounding stitches.

So that's my lesson for the day.  Month really.  I don't have an good spot for the Dazor but will haul it down here for now (it is quite heavy) and still order the Brightech.  Why?  Because I don't like the imposition of the large Dazor stand in my small rooms.  Since I will be using the other brand most often, I want to make the right decision but JoAnn does not have a 5 for me to test.  Right now, it sounds like the best option since I would like to stitch on higher counts.

I hope what I've learned and posted here helps someone who is thinking about a mag light.  At 68, I feel foolish but also get excited when I learn something new.  Problem is, I won't remember it next month.

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