Best laid plans...

I barely stitched this week. Partly, because I wasn't in the mood, and partly because I was working on building my new scroll rods, a process I did NOT enjoy. I didn't plan the process out very well. I got the right amount of dowels (which was more of a case of not knowing which circumference to get, so I got a lot to try), but I didn't get enough of the side 1x2 boards (I only bought two), which ended up making five sets (not nearly enough for the number of dowel sets I had, but I also kept changing their length, hence the abnormal number), and the hanger bolts recommended in the video seemed really big to me, especially compared to the bolts in the scroll rods I usually buy that are built similarly (those are way smaller in diameter), but I don't know enough about measurements to figure out how to get a smaller size. She mentioned in the video that sometimes they split. I can see why (and I almost split one). I also didn't even come close to getting enough hanger bolts because I didn't account that I'd need two packs (there were two per pack) for each scroll rod frame (two for each dowel, two dowels per scroll rod frame). That meant that I also didn't have enough twisty knobs for the sides...it was an overall mess.

By Saturday, I had already built another Lowe's cart that was reaching up to the $100 mark for more supplies to finish the other rods. But then, I decided I needed to do a test first before I spent anymore money, so I took the scroll frame I made for Bookshelf, since it was the biggest, (only one of three that I had actually finished), put the fabric on it, and got the shock of my life...it wouldn't stay stable! The knobs wouldn't tighten, they just kept spinning (which washers might fix, but that meant yet another purchase that may, or may not, work), the fabric was super loose, and it was a wobbly mess! To say my frustration level was on high, is an understatement. I still don't know how the lady in the video made hers work, but here's mine. I took a picture of it on Sunday night after I calmed down a bit (and it's only part of it, the whole thing is 4' tall and I didn't feel like framing a photo properly by this point):

Sleepy Hollow Mural is also long, but its frame is store bought has a stablizer bar at the top which keeps it from being wobbly (which it is without that stablizer bar, a fact I had actually forgotten). I do typically prefer the bought scroll rods that are built with bolts in the ends with knobs to tighten them to the side bars. I don't like the split rail things, although I do have some of those too. The bolted kind are a bit more expensive, but not like those Millennium frames or Omanik or any of those other fancy things that cost more than my entire stand (which is the most expensive cross stitch thing I have ever bought). Here it is, the extra bar screwed at the top (and a split rail behind it):

So I added more things to the Lowe's cart to built a stablizer bar for the longer projects, more hanger bolts, washers, more knobs and nuts, more 1x2's for more side bars, and then I realized that I basically almost had the same amount it would cost me for "real" scroll rods for all but the big two projects and I could just use my much dreaded Q-snaps for the two biggies. It's not ideal, but why spend more money to build more stuff (which I hated the entire process of) and there was still a chance it didn't work and I would end up buying the scroll rods anyway. It was the lesser of two evils and I had really had enough by that point. Like I've said, a woodworker I am NOT. So, off to Amazon I went, and bought everything I needed. Yes, I did spend more, but it was well worth it for the lack of trouble.

It's not better than those super-expensive frames that are strong enough to be 48" long and hold everything taunt, but it will do. Now, here comes another rant...when it comes to cross stitch accoutrements, needle minders are a big yes (I kind of think of them like Disney pins, collectible, but usually not that expensive, so it's something I can justify, especially since I can make them myself), but all the other stuff...expensive stands, francy frames, scissor fobs, and especially fancy project bags, nothing but decorator swag and all I can do without. If someone can sew and make their own project bags, then cool, but I can't sew. I'm a bobbin person, so I keep each project in their own bobbin box. I use paper patterns (along with apps), so bobbin boxes and paper also aren't that conducive to project bags. I also don't stitch on the go, or have a craft room to store everything in. I keep all my WIPs on a bookshelf behind my chair (a piece of which you can see above). The scroll-rodded projects in a clothes hamper on top, the bobbin boxes with the row of sheets I'm working on stack neatly on the next shelf, the shelf below that is the three-ringed bingers that hold each printed project in their entirety lined up (or, for the smaller ones, the zip plastic envelopes), and the bottom shelf is old lapstands (probably, soon to be the new WIPs). It's all tight and confined, but definitely no room for another container for project bags.

And just to add to that, same with those new chip system thread keepers, both the hanger kinds and the bobbin kinds...a whole set of those is about $250...I mean, seriously? I can buy 500 bobbins and five thread box for under $20 (and Michael's thread boxes come with 100 bobbins in each box, so that's 1000 bobbins). Then, you have to buy these foam inserts for those chip things to go into either an Ikea or another storage system (both of which ain't cheap either)...I live in a trailer. I ain't that rich and I don't have the room. I think, even if I won the lottery, I wouldn't own those things. It's a waste of space having the bobbins spread out like that like rings in a ring box. But to each his own, I guess and if you have the money, I guess you can spend it on whatever you want.

I also think my issue with project bags is tied to my OCD...I like bobbin boxes because I have the entire project's thread in one area, all together, neat and clean. The thought of throwing a few bobbins in a bag separate from the set drives me insane. I wouldn't be able to do it. Plus, I just don't work that way. I won't know which direction I'm working in until I get there, and if I don't have the next color, I would go into panic mode. It's why I carry a 400lb purse around. I carry it all because you never know when you need it all. Irrational? Maybe. But it's how I'm built.

Now, having said all that, I did buy those cheap Amazon project bags so I have something to keep the larger Q-snap projects in. Hopefully, I don't end up with the issues I had with Sleepy Hollow because I left it in the Q-snaps all the time. I'm only going to be using them for Blue Marble and Bookshelf and neither one of their bobbin boxes is going to fit in the project bag since they are supersize bobbin boxes, but it is what it is. It's really just to keep the fabric safe. I also expect that the process of putting the projects in and out of the snaps is going to make me dread working on them. We'll see. I only have one grime guard (it's the purple thing hanging off my hamper above and yet another one of those luxury stitching items I don't see having dozens of), and I don't intend on buying another one, so it will have to be shared between the two.

Enough ranting, let me show you what little stitching I've done...oh yeah, but first, here is the coverage of 28ct Lugana that I meant to show you earlier...it's good coverage, but you can still see material underneath. Thanks again to Leonore and Sleepy Hollow for making me feel better about not switching Bookshelf to 25ct. Plus, after putting the 28ct Lugana magic count on the scroll rods to test it, it's awfully thin, so now I'm worried about it because this Lugana is way thicker. But here's Sleepy Hollow's coverage:

Here is where I left off last time:

And I may regret it, but I stopped taking pictures all the way across, just to where I am, so that way the picture isn't so long and maybe you could see it a bit better, but it's still only two days of stitching since last time, so not much progress:

In the middle of Sunday, I also decided I was ready to move on from Sleepy Hollow, since I couldn't start one of the new ones (which was the plan and why I started building the new frames...I'm getting heated just writing this), so I went back to Night Wish since I barely got to work on her last time because of lapstand issues. I left off on her here back in November:

And again, since this was barely a third of a day stitching, not much progress, plus, as irony would have it, I ended up back in the Petit Treasure Braid! I mean, seriously?

For some reason, everything I ordered from Amazon is not going to be here until next week some time, so I'll be lucky to get every new project started by the end of the month. I can probably start on Bookshelf and Blue Marble, since I have the Q-Snap now, but as it stands, the very thought of Q-Snaps makes me cringe. I would rather wait and start the others first. HUGE props to everyone who uses Q-Snaps and loves them!

I can say though, one good thing did come out of this whole disaster...the side bars I made for my scroll frames can be used with the dowels from my bought ones. For some reason, I have a TON of the dowels, but not enough sides. Now, that issue is fixed. And wingnuts (which I also bought some of because I didn't know which I would want, the knobs or nuts), will work just fine with the store bought dowels. I'm not sure about the knobs yet, but I kept them just in case. I haven't thrown anything else out yet (because I'm a pack-rat), but I probably should. I doubt I will have use for those dowel rods anymore, especially the ones with hanger bolts hanging out the ends.