STNA Blog Hop: Stands and rotation update

     Here's this week's question:
Do you use a stand when you stitch? If so, tell us about it and share pictures if you’ve got them. If not, would you like to try using a stand? Do you have any tips or tricks around using a stand versus not using a stand?


     I love my stand.  I use it whenever I can (which is when I'm sitting in my stitching chair at home).  I don't take it out on the balcony as there isn't enough room.  But it lets me stitch two handed, which means I'm faster.  I'm a slow stitcher to start with, and I want to be faster.  So I use my stand to help me with that.  It's awesome to be able to go faster.  I'm not a huge fan of my stand.  It's just a little cheapie, and it doesn't do everything I would like.  So I love it for the thirty dollars I paid for it, and I really want to get a better one so I can easily reach the back of my work.  I'm currently trying to save up the money to get a better stand.  (It's not going so well due to my HAED addiction.  I'm thinking of asking my mom to hold the money for me, as I think that may be the only way.)  Tips:  Get a stand with a good base.  If it keeps tipping over, it's of no use to you.  Get a stand that you can easily reach the back of.  It can be a real pain to reach the back on some of them, and you have to reach the back every time you start and stop a thread.  And lastly, find a stand that fits with your lifestyle.  For me, I had to have a stand that was easy to change projects with, and a stand that was Q-snap friendly.  I take my stitching all over the place (pharmacy, mom's house, David's house, out on the balcony with Yes Dear), and I needed a stand where I could take my Q-snap and go.  I once tried using a scroll frame for something, but it's hard to use without a stand, and I didn't like trying to carry it everywhere as it didn't fit in my bag.  Dust, dirt, water, it could have gotten anything on it.  So now I make sure my stand is Q-snap friendly as that's what I use (they're nice and portable).  Also, make sure your stitching space is big enough for the stand you choose, and make sure the base will fit around/under your stitching chair.  After all, if the legs of the base are too thick for you to get them under your chair, you won't be able to have the stand be close enough!!  Enjoy them too.  They're great!!
     You can see all the blog hop participants at their own little blogs below.  Thanks to STNA for hosting it.
     Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here.  
     And lastly, but certainly not leastly, I've been doing some work on my blog today.  I changed my rotation, y'all.  I want to see more progress, so I decided to cut my rotation down to ten projects.  Six of the twenty I needed to keep, so I put the other fifteen names in a list and randomized them.  I saved that list to a document, and then put in the ten projects that are in my new rotation and randomized again.  So now I have one list of my rotation as it is now, and another list of UFOs in the order they'll enter my rotation as other things get finished.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.  For those of you that are curious, my six projects were:

1. Desert Landscapes Mandala~because it's in honor of my dad who died a couple of years ago.
2. Country Bloomers~because it was a gift from Christine M. Wilson, and she's an awesome friend, so I want her to see it getting worked on.
3. Rosa~because it's a gift for Rosa whom it was named after.  I want to get it finished for her so I can give it to her.
4. Memorial for Dad~because of the obvious reason.
5. Story Keeper~because it's a SAL with Julie.  Sort of.  She works on it every once in a while, and I work on it every once in a while.  It's not a set day of the week, but we're pretty close to the same place on it, so it's all good.  This one will probably fall out of my rotation when I finish the first page so Julie can keep up with me.
6. Shore Patrol~because it's the same sort of Sal with Evalina.  We both have it in progress, but it's not assigned a day or anything like that.

I was really happy to see that two of my HAEDs made it onto my new rotation list, and even happier that one of them was Frost Moon.  It's a huge project, and I was thinking of keeping it out just because it's so big.  I didn't, and then didn't have to worry about it.  Yay!!  So the pics are my rotation in order, and my UFOs in order.  I may make a separate page for my rotation too, like I have for my SALs.  I'm not sure yet, as all the pics are on my blog already.  We'll see what happens with it.  I really hate to put anything away, but I really wanted to see more progress, so I HAD to.  Now the ones I put away are all screaming at me, lol.I'm working on DLM now, and it will be the last item in my old rotation.  Then, I think what I'm gonna do is work on Impossible Love. It would be after DLM in my new rotation, and since DLM is in both, it seems appropriate to switch rotations that way.  Now I just have to find room in the magic closet for the ten projects I'm putting away!!  (I'm sure I'll be able to.  And YD will be thrilled that I opened the closet up.  She likes to hide in it.