No I don’t mean poke around looking at sites for products, but think about how you will use them. Ask yourself some questions:
What I can tell you is that you should think about how and where you will be using it in order to narrow down the options.

Ask yourself questions such as this:

1. Will I be using it at home only or when I travel to guild meetings and classes?
   If you will be using it for classes, you’ll need one that’s portable.
2. When I’m at home do I have a table nearby for holding the magnifier?
   If not, I’ll need one that hangs on my neck, sits on your nose (glasses), or sits on the floor.
3. Will I need light as well?
   If so, look only at magnifiers with lights attached.
4. How much magnification do I need?
   Different lamps have different amounts, so some might be too weak or too strong.
5. Do I need color matching?
   Then I should consider true light bulbs/lamps only.
6. Do I get migraines?
   I know some people who have problems with some brands of light because the flickering causes migraines for them.

Whatever lamp you consider, try it out first to be sure it works for you. This is especially true for more expensive models. Some shops will let you try out the models there or borrow ones from your friends to try.

When you try them, do so under the conditions you normally stitch, in your regular chair. with your regular lighting, and with the mesh size you usually use. This is the best way to determine if a magnifier will work for you.

Once you have narrowed down your list, it’s time to do the fun thing — shop!

No related posts.

Doing needlepoint for hours on end can strain more than your back and, perhaps, your eyesight. The repeated motion can do damage to your hands.

Barbara Bergsten is having her yoga instructor, Carol More, guest post on her blog and the first post is a real winner.

Visit the post to learn about some simple yoga for your hands that will relieve some of the stress we put on them when we stitch.

Related posts:

1. Keeping Hands Soft and Smooth while Stitching
2. Remember this Month’s Giveaway!

The Medicine Bear represents powerful healing to the Zuni. It’s always in this rounded form, and usually has the arrow and often has a small offering of feathers or stones attached at the top. While this is a popular fetish, my favorite carver of medicine bears is Stuart Quandalacy, I think his stuff is stunning.

Anyway back to the needlepoint. The design is going to fit into a Stirling leather tool tote which is in my stash. A medicine bear in a shade of Impressions that reminds my of a type of Agate with a turquoise arrow will be in the lower right corner. I’m thinking of stitching it in an Offset Scotch to mimic the striations in many stones.

The remainder of the needlepoint is going to be a patchwork of patterns from Native American baskets, mostly from Alaska and British Columbia, although they are pretty universal. They will be stitched in black Vineyard Merino and straw colored Lorikeet and are Bargello adaptations of the patterns found on the baskets, which are made by coiling.

My plan, which is a big jump for me in designing, is not to plan to size of each patch in advance. I’m going to work on them as I go along, fitting each one into place around the bear. I’ve got several pages of drawings of basket patterns from a Dover book as well as some others for picking the designs.

With the strong focal point and unity of thread, it should look good.

So why is this a health needlepoint? Largely it’s because over the next couple of months, I’m hoping to be doing lots of healing myself. I’ve suffered from mild to moderate fibromyalgia virtually all my life and I’m be starting a treatment program for it today. Since I’ll be spending plenty of time in the car and waiting around, I’m figuring I’ll need needlepoint and it would be good to be stitching on things which would keep me mindful of relaxing and getting better.

Besides the fact that I just love the idea behind this. It will be an ebook later in the year, with this project along with additional Bargello patterns based on baskets.

Related posts:

1. Japanese-inspired Blackwork
2. Southwestern Twinchy Gallery
3. Kilim Inspired Free Needlepoint Pattern
4. Quaker-Inspired Ornament Design – Freebie from Kincavel Krosses
5. DIY Needlepoint – Adler-inspired Bargello

. . .According to research at the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, the repetitive motion and focus of needlework can elicit what’s known as the relaxation response – a calming meditation-like state that slows heart rate and causes blood pressure to drop. In addition, a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests that knitting is associated with a lower risk of dementia for those 65 and older.

Thanks to industry publication Creative Leisure News for alerting me to this.

Related posts:

1. Keeping a Needlework Journal
2. Why December Is Like Needlework
3. Ultimate Big Book of Finishing, Needlework Knowledge and Techniques – book review
4. Needlepoint as Stress Release
5. Creativity & Experimenting in Needlework

Oh and my migraine is in its second day.

Does this sound like you?

What we both need is a stress release. Something which takes us out of ourselves, let’s us go to another place in our minds, and something which puts us into a nice relaxing zone.

In other words we need stress release. For me, and probably for you, that means needlepoint.

Doing needlepoint does relax you and any needlepoint will get you into a relaxed zone where your blood pressure goes down, your breathing becomes deeper and slower, your muscles relax and your heart rate slows down. All of these things are signs of stress and removing or lessening them is a good thing.

But what if you don’t have enough time to spend awhile relaxing and doing needlepoint?

Then you need something faster. First find some needlepoint which will not require you to think too much or to make decisions. This might be some already-started Bargello, it might be a background using your favorite stitch, it might be an area of Basketweave on a complex canvas. For myself, the stitching would have to be with a single strand, already cut thread (I hate stopping and plying threads).

Now thread up your needle and start stitching. You can relax even more by elevating your feet. Deliberately slow down your breathing to make it in time with your stitching. Inhale deeply as you bring the needle out of the canvas. Exhale as completely as you can as you bring the needle back into the canvas.

If you breathe deeply as you stitch, you will find that even a minute is enough time to relieve some of the stress of your busy day.

I’m going to go do just that and then go back to work with, I hope, some relish for the tasks at hand.

Related posts:

1. Stitch your Stress Away – More New Stitches
2. Stitch Your Stress Away — Three More Stitches
3. Needlepoint — the “new knitting?”
4. Stitch Your Stress Away Update
5. Stitch your Stress Away Update