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Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 2:07 pm
by missanne
Good morning!

Please forgive if these were previously mentioned... A few years ago I found these at Nordic Needle. They are for glasses wearers. Love them! They clip onto your glasses and sit a little low so you can still look over the top at the television or see what the cats are into.

MagniClips. Currently $16.50 and in different strengths, from 1.5 up to 4.

https://www.nordicneedle.com" target="_blank

I can't seem to make a good link directly to them. :-(

Anne.

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:26 am
by richardandtracy
They appear to come in different strengths. The x3.5 strength ones are here: https://www.nordicneedle.com/6871

Look interesting, but with the strength of glasses I already have, they are quite heavy enough and I've found the added weight of sunglasses clips give me a headache so I suspect these'll do the same for me. However someone else may find them a godsend.

Regards,

Richard.

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 4:16 pm
by isaacson72
I love my LED magnifier floor lamp, but I have to say... this is my first time stitching on 25 ct fabric and while I know the finished product will be beautiful & so detailed (it's a HAED ornament), I much prefer 28 and stitching over 2. Even with the magnifier, the 25 ct is so tiny! I have stitched on 22 ct aida before without a magnifier - that was tiny, too, I felt like I was going to go blind! I'm definitely grateful for the magnifier & extra light.

Also I'm stitching 2 over 1 and am wondering if I should have chosen 1 over 1. 2 seems a little thick for these tiny stitches, but 1 doesn't feel like it would be enough either. I much prefer a full cross over tent stitching, so I didn't want to do that. I'm sure I'll get used to it Do you guys usually do 2 over 1 on 25 ct?

Once I get more of it done, I'll post a picture. Right now, it's just a small handful of blue stitches. I have a houseful of teenagers this weekend though, so I should have lots of time hiding out in another room to work on this.

Michelle

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 5:04 pm
by Lulu22
I'm glad you love your floor lamp, I don't do anything over 20 count my eye's couldn't take it!

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 4:09 am
by isaacson72
Just spent nearly an hour working on this 25 ct lugana. Even with the magnifying glass, I think it's just too small. I'm not really enjoying it. I can see that the finished product would be really awesome, if I could just stick it out.... but eh. I don't know if I want to. I think I'd rather it be a little bigger, and use 28 ct, stitched over 2. My eyeballs will thank me, and I will enjoy it more. I just :anotherfrog: :anotherfrog: about 4 stitches... it was not pretty. I think 25 is just too small for me. :(

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 1:49 pm
by rcperryls
When stitching begins to feel like a chore and isn't fun, there is, IMHO, no point to continue and the sooner you switch to a different fabric or method of stitching the better. My first HAED (older members can stop reading here if you like, since I have repeated this umpteen hundred times, but I really want to prevent someone from experiencing what I did) I began with 25 ct 2 over 1. Wasn't bad when it was mostly black thread for 6 pages (especially since DMC black is soooo thin). Once the confetti started it became a painful nightmare. And by then I knew that wasn't going to work for me. I switched (and restarted, but haven't followed through much) to 25 ct 1 over 1 full cross and then to 28 ct 2 over 1 tent stitch. Both give me good coverage. The key, I think, to 1 over 1 is to not have really tight stitches. I love the tent stitch as it is so much (twice actually) faster, good coverage and lets me use a loop start as well. But I have no problem with the count as long as I have my magnifying lamp. I have seen beautiful large projects (HAEDs and Golden Kites) stitched on 18 ct Aida fabrics. Whatever works for you is right!

Carole
:dance:

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 2:33 pm
by Mabel Figworthy
rcperryls wrote:Whatever works for you is right!
These are the magic words in all things stitchy!

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:05 am
by richardandtracy
richardandtracy wrote:On several occasions I have come close to buying something like these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391183342120. I normally use a head torch anyway.

Regards,

Richard
My wife has just bought these: http://www.axminster.co.uk/lightcraft-h ... ght-503956 from Axminster Tools just up the road from us. She bought them for her jewellery making, and they are fantastic for stitching. They have a light and magnifying lenses of different strengths. Superb.

Regards,

Richard

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:58 pm
by isaacson72
rcperryls wrote: I have seen beautiful large projects (HAEDs and Golden Kites) stitched on 18 ct Aida fabrics. Whatever works for you is right!

Carole
:dance:
That's my hang up -- I think the HAEDs look so much better with small stitches! I think 18 ct would be ok... although now that I've been using mostly evenweave type fabrics, when I do go back to aida, it feels really stiff. Maybe a 36ct linen, stitched over 2? Never tried that before. My "ornament" sized HAED is going to be a little bigger than I anticipated! Maybe I'll make a small pillow out of it with a loop on the top, and hang it on a doorknob. I just can't face that 25 ct! Maybe on a weekend morning, but I do most of my stitching in the evenings, after working on a computer all day - my eyes are toast by 7pm!

Anyway, I stopped with the HAED ornament & went back to starting another mason jar lid. I'm doing the MS Walk in April and decided to sell all the jars I've made so far as a fundraiser, so I'm frantically stitching a handful of Easter designs over the next couple of weeks so it's not all Christmas jars. I'll fill them with Hershey's kisses, too. Hopefully people at work will buy them!

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:34 pm
by Mabel Figworthy
36ct over two looks beautiful (I've stitched several projects like that, see below) but would it help? Whether over one or over two, the holes would still be the same size, that is to say quite small!

Image

Image

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:57 pm
by isaacson72
I want to snuggle that puppy, he's so cute! Great job on those.

36 over 2 is basically 18, right? That's ok. It's not the size of the hole, it's the size of the stitches that seems to get me. It's the 25 count, stitching over 1, that makes my eyes so tired. I just like the look of the tiny stitches. It all looks great, I know that, but with such detailed patterns like HAED, I prefer the look of the tiny stitches. Perhaps, then, I should have done them when I was 20 and not well over 40. :lol:

Re: Seeing smaller stitches

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:53 pm
by stitchingdonna86
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003IM ... ref=plSrch#" target="_blank

This is mag eyes they are very popular with cross stitchers using different count fabrics. It comes with different levels of magnifier lenses that suit ur eye sight without having to strain the eyes. Hope this helps