Progress on this weekend’s stitching was hampered by a little ripping. I was trying to stitch and watch the final ever episode of the Grand Tour. Normally, like many of you, I just listen when I’m crafting, but some shows have to be watched. And it resulted in quite a few mess ups. Finally, I gave up, put the stitching down and enjoyed the show.

And I went back to the stitching the next day.

I managed to get the spray of buds at the bottom (which was the part I kept messing up), and a couple flowers (almost) done..

Wheneever I post this project, people always comment on how hard it must be to work on the black. And you’re right – it’s very hard. Especially as it’s 18ct aida, so it’s not only dark, but it’s pretty small too.

Happily, my close-up sight is pretty good (seeing distances is another matter), but it’s still a challenge on the black. So here are my top tips for working with dark aida

1. If you can’t work in full daylight, invest in a good, bright task light. I have a torchiere lamp that sits behind my chair. So not only do I have the overall light from that, but it has a directable task light that I can point right at my work. And that task light has a very bright LED bulb in it. It helps a lot.
   
2. It also helps to have something light behind your work.. light wearing light coloured clothes, or as I usually do, a light quilt on your lap.

As you can see here, it helps to show you where the holes are. (Especially when paired with bright lighting).

Of course, it only works when you black cat DOESN’T insist on laying on your lap while you’re stitching…

Maybe I just need to get a white cat….