Happy Halloween!

I've been so quiet on my blog (and on the stitching front) lately that you probably thought I was going to pass on the Halloween stitching for this year, right?

I couldn't do that! Not that I'm big on Halloween, but I *love* to do a little bit of Halloween stitching every year.

Trix or Treat by Blackbird Designs
Stitched on 32-Count Crème Brulee linen (R&R)

A little note found on the chart: "In the early to mid 1900s postcards were sent to offer holiday wishes. Barb found several from the 1940s celebrating Halloween. These old cards spelled trick differently. She decided to use the old spelling "trix" for this small sampler. We wish you treats not "trix" this Halloween!"

Halloween Spot by The Drawn Thread
Stitched on 32-Count Lambswool Jobelan

Halloween is a Hoot by Heart in Hand Needleart
Stitched on 32-Count Lambswool Jobelan

Those were fun! Is it too early to start some Christmas stitching now?

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the lovely comments and e-mails I received after my last post earlier this month. Our stitching community is such a wonderful place. I'm only sorry that I haven't been more involved these past months.

My eye has been absolutely fine since that horrible weekend. Having said that though, I've been trying not to overdo it either. So far so good!

Happy Halloween!!

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.