Narly Marly

Good grief.  My floche came in, without instructions.  I truly believe anyone who is beginning, suffering, or recovering from menopause, needs written instructions.  For everything.

I just assumed the arrow on the label shows the direction to pull as I do with floss.  Fugetaboutit.  I had no idea that this soft and easily shredded thread needed to be handled differently, gently, frustrating careful.

Here, from Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread, is the correct way to handle this thread.
https://www.needlenthread.com/2016/10/how-to-tame-a-big-hank-of-floche.html

It seems I always end up at this site, and I'm very grateful that she offers so much information and help.  Unfortunately, I searched for help only after the disaster.  After cutting it in half in an attempt to release the nest, the results were too long.  I need to shorten, half again would not work, and will lose even more of the hank.  I carefully tried to save the nest, but frustration took over and I reached for the lighter.  The same one that set many snarky projects to flame.  Mark stopped me and took over, then suggested scissors.

 Will there ever be a next time?  Not sure.  I haven't stitched with it, bought it mainly for Santa's beard and other Christmas designs to achieve better coverage.  Just like silk, it was snagging on my rough hands, and I'm not sure I like the feel of it.  But when stitching, it may be wonderful to use.  We'll see.  If I like it and want to order other colors, I will certainly get the smaller portion and not the narly hank.  The other #20 and #25 are in the usual skeins and feel more like standard DMC.


I always know when Petey is on the deck.

Hope your day is narly free!!

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Controlling tension

Hi everyone.  My latest motif (floral vase) was a lot easier than the others and I was able to use my favorite method for controlling tension.  My threads usually do not lay smoothly, evenly, properly, add tension irregularities and I create a wonky stitch.  It's me.  No one checks my samplers, no friends have any interest, so studying my work is never done.  And it doesn't matter to me or I would put forth an effort to better my stitches.  The only time they look fairly even in tension and placement is when using this method for blocks.  I've mentioned it before, and will again, because I am always pleased with the result.

For houses and larger blocks I use the sewing method horizontally for the first half of the stitch, completely filling in the area before crossing.  The second half of the stitch is done vertically, which creates (for me) as even a stitch as I will ever produce.  The right side is the first half, and left side is completed.

For this vase, I added a line of blue creating a rim simply because it looked odd to me without it.  The two rows in the rim were done my usual way, completing one row at a time.  You can see the ditch between them even though I was deliberately being careful with my tension.  The body of the vase appears to have a more defined stitch rather than a row of floss squished together.  The sewing method is what I use most, but if I completed one stitch at a time, that definition may be there.  But I like the quicker sewing method, hence, wonky stitches.

In order to make the sewing motion easier, I turn it upside down for every other row to work bottom to top.

Because I am all the way to the right edge, I needed the spool huggers to hold the excess linen.

And my finished block of stitches look pretty even without an obvious horizontal pattern,  I also used this method on the first set of leaves on the left since I could compare the result to the others.  Hmm.  Better, no??

Anyway, not sure if I will complete this side of the sampler to the bottom or move elsewhere or take a break.  I have not been feeling right, BP is high, HR is high, hot flashes galore, and high anxiety.  Much of that is because of the continuing hair loss, dramatic to say the least.  But I am seeing the doc Tuesday for a chat.

Hope your weekend goes well!!

Thanks for visiting.

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Motif a day

Another tree with bird and stag, starting on a large floral vase tonight.

Something I can't understand.  I went to Brightech's website and can only find floor lamps, no magnifiers.  Other sites carry them, but I thought I visited their site a few weeks ago and the magnifiers were all offered and described.  I emailed and explained my purchase/return from Amazon after I found that the purchase was actually fulfilled by Amazon but sold by Brightech, not a third party.  So I guess you can't order from them directly and I'm hoping to get an explanation about what I received.

I did order another Magma (Knitter's Pride pattern holder) in the smaller size.  Another brain blunder - I forgot that the strap allows it to stand for viewing.  There is a pocket on the other side.  I was surprised to see that they come in a few prints now.

We have lightening, thunder, snow, ice and scaredy cats.  Petey is a maniac and fighting with yellow cat, trying to corner Missy, and obviously it's mating season.  I did get the roundworm medicine mixed into a little tuna and he ate it.  Again in two weeks.

Gave my duster a haircut.  Still loving how easily they dust my chair spindles and rails.

Tomorrow will be very cold, and my 9 year anniversary to blogging.  Geez. Where are the years going?

Thanks for visiting!

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Motif a day

Odd birds, a dog, a tree, small flower basket.

Here's the top so far.  Haven't completed the over one, and the additional small sampler will be attached in the open area.  Another branched tree with A&E coming, I think that one will be much easier for me with the Dazor.  Hopefully, I will speak with the Brightech people today and maybe order through them but until then, my stitching spot will need to move to the Dazor's location. 

My eyes had a bad weekend and I really can't do any more.   They dry out so quickly which makes everything hazy and blurred, and every 10 minutes I need drops.  So it's best to give them a rest today.  I tried the Dazor along with a pair of 3.25 glasses which did not distort as the others did (thank you Catherine).  I will need the glasses for higher counts but 3 diopter in the lamp is perfect for me.  It's hard to get used to having a lamp over my work, sort of in the way, but it's actually not.  Just an adjustment for the better and SO much easier to see the chart symbols!  I made several errors mistaking a symbol for a similar looking one, but that will not happen under this lens.  Still surprises me that 1.75x through this lens is better than 4,25x on my face! 

I can't wait until this sampler is finished.  I think I am half way there.

I've had a number of requests for the thread and will pull a name and notify the recipient by email.


Hope your weekend went well.

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An o f f e r in white

Hi stitching buds.  Thanks for the comments about the table.  I remember a wide adjustable table we bought to fit around the base of Mom's lift chair.  What a help that was.  Where is it?  I donated the clothing for bedridden patients I made for mom and many of the aids used to move and lift her, maybe that went with it.  

Thanks also for the comment about the LoRan products.  I do have the stand and boards and forgot!  My chart is always in the Magma but I can certainly switch back.  I am sure the arm on the Brightech would be easily moveable, we think the rust found inside the pole must also have been in the arm and prevented that.

I have two skeins of the coton a broder from DMC in blanc, numbers 20 and 25 that I am of f ering to someone wanting to try these threads for better coverage on higher count linens.  I haven't tried them yet, so can't say if two strands on 28/30 works, or which # is best for 32/35.  If you would like to try them, please email/click 

samplersandsantas@gmail.com. 

 Much easier than asking you to leave your address in the comments.  Some of you receive posts by email which is not until 11pm, so I'll wait until tomorrow morning to pull a name.

Have a great day!!

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Can you see it now?

Nope.  My Brightech is going to Kohl's Amazon return desk.  First of all, the 5 diopter (2.25x) was so distorted I was getting dizzy, too strong for me.  I had to keep moving the linen to get it clear, closer was best, which didn't leave much room for stitching.  I do not believe that's a quality issue with the lens, just too strong and sensitive.  3 diopter (1.75x) is much better for me (even better than my 4.0x glasses) but the return is also because of its condition.  The screws removed on the base stem (to slip the rod over) had rust in the threads.  We could not get the rod to fit over that stem, the spring inside would not depress.  Looking inside to see why, the interior of the steel rod was rusty.  The base was scuffed.  The flexible arm was not.  I did not have the strength to bend it and was expecting it to easily move up and down.  The styrofoam box was broken in two.  Was it used?  Or sitting in a warehouse too long?  We never plugged it in or actually assembled it.  Not acceptable for that price.  I'm sure this is isolated but there are sellers on Amazon that sell returns and buy rejects.  It would be the perfect size for that area and it has excellent reviews.  Ordering from the manufacturer after contacting customer service about the flexibility would be a good idea. 

As for the issue with needing glasses to view the chart symbols, solved.  I plan to order a laptop/bed tray that can be raised at an angle to hold my essentials and chart.  After testing, the chart is magnified through the Dazor with no distorted edges and perfectly clear.  No moving, no additional glasses, this is a perfect solution. 

Another option is the larger sized tray table that slides beneath chair or sofa and offers a nice flat surface over your lap, but I would want an angled book holder for the chart.  I've used a bed table before but Carole needed something after her surgery, and it's still there.   I like having a large area like this and can attach a cup holder to the side of the leg or top for my water.  Macy's has one with a drawer making smaller projects easy to tuck out of sight.











Spellcheck has disappeared from the top right corner of the post page, replaced by a T for formatting.  ????  If there are errors, deal with it.

Enjoy the weekend!!

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