Sunday, October 05, 2008

A Finish (Yay!) and Eye Strain (Ouch!)

Yes, some stitching content at long last! The last time I shared some stitching photos was way back when Rafa Nadal won Wimbledon: and how long ago was that?! I did take quite a break from stitching this summer. I didn't mean to and didn't plan it, but with the summer being as busy as it was... and then when I haven't stitched in a while it's difficult to pick it back up again.

But finally, here's my Sweet Treats finish:

Designer: Country Cottage Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Lentil Belfast (Lakeside Linen)

I should add that I took this photo at night with the Daylight lamp - IRL it's not as dark as this. I'm planning to do a bunch of food & drink designs (by Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks) for mum's kitchen. I'll give them to her for either her birthday (in December) or Christmas - so I'll need to get a move on now if I want to get a few more done.

I was finally starting to get back into stitching a bit the week before last when after just a few evenings of doing it I woke up one morning to the MOST awful eye strain I've ever had. :/ I used to suffer from eye strain quite a bit about 4 years ago. I put it down to lack of sleep due to opening up the new business and being so busy. As soon as that settled down (and I was able to sleep for more than 4 hours a night), I didn't get it very often anymore - maybe once or twice a year at the most. When I suffer from it, it's usually if I'm woken up suddenly (from e.g. the alarm). As soon as the "air" hits my eye when I open it, it's agony. It takes about an hour to get over it: the only way to recover is to relax my eye - ideally go back to sleep for an hour or so if I'm able to. Sometimes the eye feels a bit delicate for the rest of the day, but there's no pain.

However the week before last - OMG it was AWFUL. It knocked me out for the whole day. I was in so much pain - I couldn't even open the eye that wasn't in pain, because it effected the other one. And I'm honestly not a big wimp when it comes to pain. So from 7am through to 3pm I pretty much couldn't open either of my eyes. It was starting to ease up a bit by 2.30-3pm, so I took a nap for an hour and when I got up I could open my eyes again without being in complete agony, but there was still some pain and discomfort for the rest of the evening and the next day. My eyesight isn't bad. Sure, I've been wearing glasses since I was about 19, but I can see fine without them too (i.e. if I forget to take my glasses with me somewhere it's not a disaster). I'm good at getting my eyes checked regularly - I got new glasses six months ago and I'm always told I have healthy eyes. I got some drops for my eyes and I was fine after that, but I've been very careful since: trying only to do the minimum on the computer (which I need to do for work) and no stitching until this weekend (and only a little). I've also bought an anti-glare screen protector for my monitor - which I should have done a LONG time ago, as I have a feeling the monitor is the main cause of this.

So let's hope I have no more eye strain episodes and that I'm back stitching regularly again, because I sure have missed it. I also need to catch up with so many blogs - I've missed that just as much.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

First up, what a lovely finish! :)

It's so nice to see a post from you, I was thinking just the other day that you hadn't blogged for a while and I've been meaning to email you and check that you're OK. Sorry to hear about the eye strain - I had a problem with one of my eyes a while back that was very painful (not eye strain though) and I really do sympathize. I hope your eyes are OK now and that you manage to get back into your stitching routine.

{{{Hugs}}} :)

Anonymous said...

Hello Concetta a greeting from Tuscany by Mariarita, your cross-stitch embroidery are always more beautiful, I admire them often!
A big kiss
Mariarita Colle Val d'Elsa Siena

Paula said...

Gorgeous finish. I hope your eyes are better soon.

Leslie aka zoeandcooper said...

Oooh it looks amazing. Great finish!

mainely stitching said...

Here's hoping that your eye strain will soon be nothing more than a bad memory!!

♥ Sari ♥ said...

What a wonderful finish! :)

Veronica said...

Beautiful stitching, Concetta. I've recently just finished stitching Sweet Treats too and it was definitely a fun stitch. Sorry to hear about your eye. I hope the pain won't happen again. Take care!

DovilÄ— said...

wonderful Sweets:)

Karoline said...

Sweet treats is gorgeous, congratulations. I hope your eyes are feeling better now.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the beautiful finish, Concetta! Sorry to read about your eye troubles, I hope they'll give you a break - all the best and hugs.

Sharon said...

Gorgeous finish! Congrats. Sorry about the eye strain-sounds horrible. I hope you are feeling better now.

Stitchingranny said...

Oh I know just what you mean. I do try to limit my time on the computer but its just so hard with so many blogs to visit lol..

Maxine said...

A beautiful finish congratulations and i hope you are ok to carry on stitching now, can't wait to see some more food/drink finishes :)

Unknown said...

lovely finish, welcome back! that eye strain sounds awful.

Anonymous said...

That's a beautiful finish! Congratulations!
I hope your eyes are better now.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about the eye strain - hopefully things have eased up since this post! Your latest finish is a real stunner :D

stitcherw said...

Beautiful finish, I love those designs. They look so petty all done up in a single piece. So sorry to hear about the eye strain, it sounds terribly painful. We take our eyesight for granted so much, something like that really makes it appreciated. Hopefully the new nonglare shield will help and you won't have any more episodes.
Sue

Karen said...

Your stitching looks yummy! I hope your eye is feeling better. It sounds painful. :(