I Love Amazon

 You know, once in a while a girl just has to have some retail therapy.  Yesterday was my day.  As you know I have been doing more cross stitch lately and I have been looking for devices, ideas, anything to make it easier to adapt my ever changing needs.  I have been reading blogs and watching youtube videos and learning a good deal.

I had to trade out my q-snap for a regular hoop because the snap was just a bit bulky for my damaged left hand to wrangle.  So, I have been using a 8 inch hot pink plastic hoop.  Since I stitch two handed the hoop is generally propped up on my hand or the table or my chest and the lighter weight helps a lot.

I have a large, floor stand Mighty Light that is a light and magnifier and it is magnificent.  However, I was looking for something a little smaller and more portable since I have yet to find the perfect stitching spot and I am moving all over the house to figure it out. So, I found this, also by Might Light.

It works pretty well and, in addition to being able to clip it on to the hoop, it has a little detachable stand if I want to use it that way.

I unwrapped it this morning to give it a go and it is definitely a help.

Opps, you got a sneak peak of my current project.

I have also been exploring the perfect set up for keeping a project together when I am not working on it.  I bought some project bags which are fine but not rigid and I am thinking I need something more substantial.  So, while looking at blogs I discovered a lady using a 12 X 12 document box for a project box and I thought that might work.  I had bought four of them a while back to store larger photos and family history documentation in and I have one that is not in use so I am going to give that a go today.  For years I have been using a knitting bag to keep the cs stuff together but it tends to get cluttered and I am hoping by using a dedicated box per project I can keep it in neater order and maybe save my dining room table from looking like a stitch a long in a shop! 

I have also been looking at different ways to store floss rather than on bobbins as well.  I saw a video about a lady using 4 X 6 photo boxes and just leaving the skeins intact and storing by number.  I will have to see about that— I have a LOT of thread on skeins.

I think I mentioned earlier that I am also using my iPad as my chart — I take a photo or scan it and put it in Dropbox to keep a permanent copy and then import (export?) it into GoodNotes where I have the editing capability and can mark off my rows and make notes and such.  That is working really well so far.

Enough about cross stitch.

I also decided to purchase some battery operated candles for a pair of copper lanterns I have.  They work great and look so realistic in the lanterns.  

They look rather un-real here but when they are turned on and in the lanterns they look really nice.  I will take a photo tonight when I turn them on and show you how they look in the intended setting.  I am thrilled that they are programmable to come/off at a certain time and they have a nice little remote to make all of it happen.  

Isn’t it cute?

Please ignore the generally unkempt appearance of my table — it has turned into a workbench if you will and I am trying to fix that.  

Oh, and Trixie has to go to the vet today as I think we are having a reoccurrence of her previous UTI.  Ugh, if it isn’t one thing it’s another.