Some New Needlework Tools and Progress on MyNeedleworkBox.com

Yesterday was one of those wonderful days that just happen and you think ahhh, why can't life be this way all the time. Of course the answer is, if life were that good all the time we wouldn't appreciate those special days, would we.

A while back I'd learned about an ever-so-small cache of old needlework tools, just the sort I love, I had bought them and they arrived in yesterday's mail. There were three: two pairs of scissors and a needle case. I had expected the needlecase to be wonderful and ditto one of the pairs of scissors and I was indeed exceedingly pleased with them.

My expectations for the second pair of scissors hadn't been as high, so when I opened them and saw that they were gorgeous, I was knocked out! Simple Georgian-steel elegance. There is something about the tools of that time period that I love and when they arrived in the mail yesterday, they were beyond my expectations!

So what is it about something so simple that can knock one out? All designers know that the beautiful lines and proportions of something simple are a wonder and the Georgians excelled at this, probably as much as in any age.

I will post them soon on MyNeedleworkBox.com

So I was already in a good mood, I confess, but also a bit apprehensive and here's that tale.

I have already written several times about my Apple tutor Cody and how he left Apple a little over a month ago and how much I miss him. I have other tutors at Apple University that I love but it was Cody who helped me with MyNeedleworkBox.com  and I wasn't sure how I was going to carry on without him.

It's been tough, I've hit some coding walls and I've been in mourning for Cody for a month now. Till last night.

Before Cody left Apple, he taught MacSoph (my trusty little Apple MacBook Pro) how to screen-share. He was so certain that he could keep tutoring me via screen-sharing and last night was our first chance to try it.

The experience was beyond my expectations! Even farther beyond my expectations than my new Georgian-steel scissors. Cody and I spent an hour together; he talked me through my problems and together we worked on MacSoph's screen. What a way to learn! And of course now I am wondering about all the possibilities of the technique for teaching needlework on a one-to-one basis.

MyNeedleworkBox.com has been languishing in the doldrums because I didn't know how to solve a couple of basic problems. Now I know at least how to solve one set of problems and I was busy into the night last night posting photos and writing descriptions. I hope you will go and visit MyNeedleworkBox.com to see my recent handiwork.

One of the pieces I posted last night was my very best piece of whitework and I hope you will take a few minutes to go and see it.
For quick reference: www.MyNeedleworkBox.com
whitework >handkerchief collection >my best piece of whitework.

The poor thing is all in tatters but see if you don't agree that the embroidery is amazing! It is quite simply the best quality embroidery I've ever had a chance to buy.

I have many more pieces to post in the next few months, including a handkerchief almost as good and in almost perfect condition. But for now I don't mind the attention on this my best piece, at least for a while.

So my lesson last night by screen-sharing has allowed me to post at least the first parts of my whitework collection. It all just takes time, but at least now I know where I was making one set of mistakes. I know others will crop up too, but best of all, I know that I can screen-share with Cody and he will help me.

MyNeedleworkBox.com is first and foremost a learning tool for me, so it will be a long time before it is complete. I hope you will follow along as I build this website quite unlike the others I've done.

A very happy day indeed!

More on MyNeedleworkBox.com

I've been working hard on MyNeedleworkBox.com.

For those of you who have kindly visited it, I apologize for its state of disarray and hope you will remember it is a learning tool first and foremost.

Here's how it goes: I've been working quite a few hours posting photos of whitework. I think I've doubled my number of pages in the last two weeks. I love the things on them and I love the way they look, but right now, for the most part you can't see them because I can't get my links to work.

I'm missing just one tiny step somewhere, that's all.

I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I try and try and as with most things computer, it is frustrating, but I'm tenacious and I try some more.

And then I get fed up and even more frustrated but I don't give up.
I keep trying.

This I know: I'll figure it out eventually and I still have a dream of a very pretty site. And DH tells me it is going a long way to stave off Alzheimers. And the kids at the Apple Store tell me it is so.

OK, so I'm warding off Alzheimers? What about a heart attack from frustration?

I just decided I'm through trying to master links for today. I have a particularly satisfying geometric in progress and I'm bailing on MyNeedleworkBox.com for the day. Hey Needle, where are you? Time to kick back and enjoy life!

I'll be just like Scarlett and tackle it another day.

Gay Ann