Been gone a few days (Now with PICS)

[Lessa54]

Wow! That looks fantastic. I usually stitch in hand but it's even tempting me to look at frames again just so I can get one of these stands to put it in

[maggs]

That looks great, and lovely and solid looking

[meerkat]

Great photos. No wonder you are so pleased with your stand. The wood is very attractive too. Happy Stitching and hope Bean and Socks don't do too much nibbling

[ali-cat]

What a fantastic stand!! What a fantastic hubby!! ..... and I love your rats!! Happy stitching!!

[Nachstenliebe]

oooooo that is a beauty! I would be happy to have the pattern holder.....
Faith

[Sarah Gixxer]

Bet you're loving your new toy!

I loved looking at the rat pictures too, I used to keep them myself. I had one who looked very much like Bean some years ago - he was called Pepper and he used to go everywhere with me, sitting on my shoulder. People in the local pub used to think I was nuts with him sitting there nibbling my crisps!

[Cecilia]

That's a beautiful stand. Very solid looking too. Happy stitching.

[sammy_v]

Thats great hun, thanks for sharing pics with us. Enjoy ur new toy n happy stitching

[carolynbb]

I love my Stitchmate, too! Aren't they awesome?!?!

your ratties! One of my best friends -- the one I'm doing the motorcycle stitching for, actually -- is a big rat fan. They have three rats now and we usually rat-sit when they go out of town.

[lag28wa]

Hmmmm.....

I want one!! I can see getting used to two handed stitching being an adjustment after doing it one handed for so long! Its hard for me to imagine the ease of two handed stitching!

And I have never seen a stand that looks so sturdy yet flexible and easy to use. My mom had one a long time ago, but she was always wrestling with it and it looked like it was a bear to deal with, she eventually dismantled it and gave up on it.

Love your ratties too! They were our "first" pets as youngsters. My mom was gonna get us hamsters like we'd requested, but luckily a knowledgeable pet shop person told her the benefits of rats as pets versus those nasty hamsters and gerbils and she was sold! Greatest pets ever! (Well I am quite partial to my kitties right now...)

[clockwork]

Ok, been stitching with my floor stand for a few more days. I've removed the chart extender for now since I don't currently need it, but I'm glad I have it just in case. Now my chart is attached to the main part of the stand. I have since tried it with a scroll frame, q-snaps, and a plastic hoop. The scroll frame attaches best since it's what it was designed to work with but the q-snap adapter works really well. I was a little worried since the q-snaps are round, but it holds them nice and solidly. The hoop was the one thing I didn't have an adapter for (just the stretcher bar one that makes the clamp narrower) but it too seems easy to adjust for. The secret to that is to attach the clamp a little further in which stops it from rotating and also prevents the metal hoop tightening thing from damaging the clamp. I'm thinking of sending an email to the guy who makes them and seeing if he can design something for hoop use. I don't use my hoop much recently anyway, but there are lots of people who do.

Hmmmm.....

I want one!! I can see getting used to two handed stitching being an adjustment after doing it one handed for so long! Its hard for me to imagine the ease of two handed stitching!

And I have never seen a stand that looks so sturdy yet flexible and easy to use. My mom had one a long time ago, but she was always wrestling with it and it looked like it was a bear to deal with, she eventually dismantled it and gave up on it.

Love your ratties too! They were our "first" pets as youngsters. My mom was gonna get us hamsters like we'd requested, but luckily a knowledgeable pet shop person told her the benefits of rats as pets versus those nasty hamsters and gerbils and she was sold! Greatest pets ever! (Well I am quite partial to my kitties right now...)

Yeah, that's why I was worried about getting one. I've seen people fighting with them and eventually giving up. This one wasn't like that for me at all. It took some fidgeting with at first to get the height and angles right, but now it's just perfect.

I love my rats like crazy. I can't have cats because my husband is allergic. Rats are just as awesome anyway though they don't live nearly long enough. It's sad how many people think rats are like hamsters. Hamsters are cute but horrible. Rats are basically as good pets as you allow them to be. You keep one rat alone and lonely in a tiny cage and never take it out and you get a sad neurotic animal with bad people skills. But, you raise one properly in a big cage with at least one rat friend and teach it to love you and you have the best pets and tiny buddies ever. Mine are a little too energetic to spend much time riding on my shoulder but they'll chase me around the house for hours. And they house-trained themselves, which is awesome because it means I don't have to lock them in their cage and they can hang out with me all the time. I do lock them up when I'm sleeping to keep them safe since I don't know if I'd wake up if they called for me, but other than that, pretty much like having a bunch of puppies around all the time. Love them like woah.

[margaretb]

Great to have a husband who is well organised and prepared to buy you something to make things easier for you when doing your cross stitch. Enjoy.

[Raven]

What a wonderful hubby you have! The stand looks awesome and I love the fact that it is usable with a recliner. I've been thinking of getting a stand, but I've returned to stitching with a hoop rather than q-snaps. The q-snaps lose their grip too easily and though I have tightened them, it only took 2 stitching sessions for them to get loose again, so I went back to my hoops. Since this stand doesn't have an attachment for a hoop, I'd have to try scroll rods instead. Anyway, congratulations on your stand and I am glad to hear that it has eased the pain in your wrists and hands, that is wonderful!

HUGS
Raven

[freelady]

It's so nice to hear someone so happy with something and what a kind man your hubby is. I'm gtlad you are getting on so well with your stand.

[clockwork]

What a wonderful hubby you have! The stand looks awesome and I love the fact that it is usable with a recliner. I've been thinking of getting a stand, but I've returned to stitching with a hoop rather than q-snaps. The q-snaps lose their grip too easily and though I have tightened them, it only took 2 stitching sessions for them to get loose again, so I went back to my hoops. Since this stand doesn't have an attachment for a hoop, I'd have to try scroll rods instead. Anyway, congratulations on your stand and I am glad to hear that it has eased the pain in your wrists and hands, that is wonderful!

HUGS
Raven

Well just because it doesn't have an adapter for hoop use doesn't mean it doesn't work. I'm not sure if it could be used for the thin wood hoops, but it works well with my slightly chunky plastic ones. Like i said, the secret is to use the stretcher bar attachment and attach them slightly further in to stop them from rotating. This is what an empty plastic hoop looks like in the clamp



and this is it from the side to explain the stretcher bar adapter (it makes the clamp a lot more narrow) and to show how the metal bit for tightening the hoop doesn't touch anything inside the clamp when you place it properly.



It seems to work just fine that way. A specialized hoop adapter might be nice (though I'm not sure how easy it would be to make since there's so much variation between hoops) but this set-up works just brilliantly. Sorry for the Stitchmate pimping but this thing is so awesome.

[agi]

It looks perfect...

[Vega]

I have to say you are changing my mind about floor stands. I have both a floor stand and a lap stand. I don't use either of them. I tried but the floor stand didn't seem to clamp properly and my piece would slowly shift as I stitched. The lap stand sat too low from my eyes.

Now you have me rethinking the whole floor stand again!

[~threadbear~]

The floor stand looks fab! So useful. What a great hubby to get it for you. Here's some chocolate for him as a 'good hubby' pressie.

Love your rats as well, they look adorable, great little pets. Joe really wanted a pair before we got Lewis, but my mum is allergic, so we decided against it.
I'll have to disagree on hamsters though. I had 6 and once they were properly tamed they were lovely little characters, although not on the same tameness level as your rats. The only thing is, being nocturnal, they're not so great as a pet for a child I think.
A friend of mine had a rat and it was more like a little dog. Amazing little pet.

[cinder]

This is rather O/T but since you mentioned them in the original post... your rats are adorable. I had a black and white hooded that looked just like yours, a couple albinos, and a dumbo rat (which is really just a brown rat with huge ears). They used to ride around on my shoulders while I worked on projects.


And now, on topic, I want one of those. I'm going to work on bribing my husband tonight

[Serinde]

Whatever can she mean?