Greetings!

It's hard to believe it's almost the end of January already. Debi and I attended our first trade show of 2010 and the staff is all trying to recover from the cold that's gone wild! We had such plans to get caught up on things this month and so far, we're doing good to all be at the shop when we're supposed to!

2009 was one of our most challenging years and 2010 looks to be just as challenging. What does that mean for you? As less money comes in our doors it means longer lead times for orders as we try to stretch our dollars as much as possible. It also means less brand-new product coming in. Just as you tighten your belt when things get rough we've had to do the same to survive through this very rough economic downturn.  We've seen many shops close or become mail order only establishments in the past year. We appreciate your support and I hope you'll continue to be patient as we do whatever we can to get through this and come out the other side. May it be soon for all of us!

Starting with this newsletter there will be at least one article about something I hope will be of interest to you vs. primarily focusing on new items. If you have suggestions for something you'd like to see me write about, just let me know.

The Importance of Lighting

A lot of you have asked me how it is that I can stitching on 40 count linen over one without magnification. OK, so the first thing is most of you are surprised I do it without magnification - then you ask how. The trick is I use very strong light. And I do mean strong - I stitch with a 80/200/250 Watt incandescent bulb. When I'm watching TV or typing (such as this newsletter with my laptop on my lap) I use the 80 watt setting. But when I stitch, even during the day, I put it on 200 or 250 setting. My husband has been known to pretend to be blinded by it when I turn it up (OK, so maybe there is a momentary blindess but he gets over it :-)).

What does it take to do this. First you need to make sure your lamp can handle that much heat. A 200 or 250 Watt bulb generates a lot of heat, way more than a 100 watt does. This means your lamp has to have reasonably heavy wiring and you may need a larger harp or lamp shade. I have a Stiffel floor lamp that's next to the couch, which is where I do most of my stitching. I didn't have to get the lamp rewired but I did buy a larger harp (the thing that holds the lamp shade on and away from the bulb) and I got a wider lamp shade to dissipate the heat. You really don't want the bulb burning up the inside of the lamp shade! We have a great lamp shade store here in Alameda (Carole Chan's on Encinal) and I took the lamp with me to find a new shade. Carole's daughter (who does a little stitching herself) and I had a fine time taking the shades for a spin.

Once you settle on a lamp and appropriate shade you need to put the lamp in the optimal location. The lamp should be on the other side of your dominant stitching hand. Since I'm right-handed I have the lamp on my left. It's just to left and behind my shoulder since this is general lighting vs. task lighting. You also want the height adjusted so you don't get blinded if you look at the lamp. Since my floor lamp is height adjustable I have it set so that the bottom of the shade is just above my eye level, that way I don't look into the bulb directly when I face the lamp to change its settings.

Now you may ask, why don't I just use one of the many fluorescent stitching lamps. A couple of reasons, both of which are specific to me. I don't like fluorescents as much since I can usually see the oscillation in the gas in the bulbs. It's one of the reasons I spent a lot of money on really great fluorescents for the store - I can't see the oscillation in them. The other is that I want general lighting and not just task lighting. While you can get a 200 watt equivalent in a florescent bulb the thing is enormous and won't fit most lamps. I do understand the importance of saving energy but quite frankly, my eyes are more important to me. I use CFLs where they are appropriate but for me, this isn't one of those places. I am planning to bring home one of the Holtkötter lamps (see the blog for more details) to try since it's an adjustable Halogen lamp and gives out great light as well.

How do you know this will "fix" your stitching problems for not being able to see on smaller counts? Try it. An 80/200/250 bulb at Pagano's is about $4 or $5. I figure it's a cheap way to see if light is your primary problem. You might still need to get new glasses, bifocals, magnification or a task light, but I've found that a brighter light fixes way more that you might suspect.

Now go forth & stitch - and try not to blind your family members - or stitch them some eye shades!

Here's hoping that you find enough time in the coming week for your fun activities and that it includes some stitching (perhaps with a new brighter bulb)!

Happy Stitching,

Cathe
Cathe's Personal Blog
...and Debi, Leila, Jennifer, Mary, Ali, Mary Frances, Caroline, Sherry, Susan and Margaret

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