Do you cross stitch in the car?

[sharestitches]

In a few days my husband and I (and a couple more adults) are taking a group of middle and high school students to summer camp. I'm not stressed at all... Ok, I lied, I'm really stressed. But, I'm sure it will work out fine.

That said, the drive to camp is 6+ hours...14 of us in a 15 passenger van and I thought I'd pass the time working on a small stitching project. I've never stitched in the car before, but I've seen a lot of people mentioning that they enjoy stitching in a vehicle. Obviously, if the students are rowdy, I may not get any stitching done...but I'm hoping they'll sleep most of the way to camp (haha...) which may allow me to get a little bit done on my cross stitch.

Are there any tips or tricks for managing your project while in the car? Is it more trouble than it's worth? Is it easier than it seems (what with the bouncing down the road and all)?

[Rose]

I have stitched in the car and it can be easy or a pain it definitely depends on the road conditions. If there is much rough areas in the road it can be almost impossible to find the holes but if it is mostly smooth then it can be enjoyable. I never work on anything smaller then 16 count so that I can find the holes best. And an easy pattern with lots of large areas of one colors is best.

Most of the roads around were we travel are not good for stitching so I usually take my crocheting. That is much much easier to do in the car.

[richardandtracy]

Never stitched in the car?
No. I'm the driver & it wouldn't help the vehicle's safety.

Regards,

Richard

[NeedleAndFork]

I've stitched in the car once when I was on a serious deadline and had to get something done as it was a gift for the person at the other end of the road trip. Talk about pressure! Luckily it was all blackwork, so relatively easy, and only one color.

I'd suggest if you're going to stitch in the car, make it something that is on a higher count fabric - I wouldn't try to stitch over 1 on 28 count for example. That and pick a pattern that is fairly simple - no frequent color changes or confetti - LHN patterns come to mind because they're small, don't use too many colors and are fairly straightforward - lots of straight lines. I'd also use a smaller hoop/frame than usual simply because you don't have that much space and don't want to be banging elbows with the person sitting next to you. And look up and out often! I don't get motionsick at all, but I found that when I was stitching in the car that I had to look up every now and then or I started to feel a bit off.. Use the biggest needle you can for the peice you're stitching so that just incase you do drop it, it's less likely to stab you compared to a tiny pointy 28. And that said, make sure you do take a couple of extra needles just to be safe! Nothing like having your cross stitch with you, being bored and wanting to stitch and not having a needle because you lost it. Not that that's ever happened to me. Oh.. and prep your floss before hand - dealing with bobbins or skeins is a hassle in a small space - I like to make up a project card with lengths of all the colors I need cut in advance so that I have all my floss ready to stitch. It ends up something like this:



Made simply from a sheet of cardstock folded in half, and then the ends are folded inwards and holes punched down that smaller flap to attach the floss to. This way for storing, I can fold the entire thing in half and tuck the floss inside so that it doesn't rub against anything and get worn and frayed. I do this every time I start a new project simply because it makes life so much easier than dealing with bobbins constantly.

[MaggieM1750]

I agree with the prep work stated before me. I've stitched in a car but it's not the easiest thing to do.. because of car movement. I actually like hardanger work in the car.. klosters and eyelets. Those are things you don't need to consult a pattern very often. Good luck.. have fun with the kids

[mimers]

I tried once and got nauseous. Won't do it again. The thought of puking all over my hard work? No Thanks!

[pattiebelle]

I used to stitch in the car, when I was younger and the kids were younger and we all took road trips and my husband drove all the time. It was fun!

Now I'm alot older and my eyes aren't what they used to be and I like my stitchy-stand set-up, so I won't be stitching in the car anymore. (sigh - oh for the olden days...)

Good ideas, tho, about the preparations. Hope you have fun, and tell us all about it!!!

[Allyn]

Unfortunately, I can't stitch in the car (or on a boat, on a train, or on an airplane -- I've tried them all). If I try to read, do crossword puzzles or stitch in a vehicle that is underway, I get motion sickness. Which is very unfortunate, because it's a 19-hour drive on the interstate in one direction to see part of my family and a 21-hour drive on the interstate in the other direction to see the rest of my family.

[wendywombat]

Only when it's stationary!! I can knit whilst on the move, but that's all. If I have to look at a chart or pattern...
Thank goodness for sat-navs, map reading was sometimes a bit dodgy!

[richardandtracy]

The boss at home is dreadful at map reading. She gets really upset with map makers that the writing is the wrong way up on the map when we go south (she orients the map so that we're always going up the page). Also she has a habit of telling me of a turning just after we've passed it, rather than just before which would be a bit more useful. I try to memorise the route to avoid these problems.

Oh, and yes, Tracy did study Geography up to the age of 18 and went on a field trip where she, 3 other Geography students & the Geography teacher got so lost they had to get out of the car and ask which town they were in.

Regards,

Richard

[wendywombat]

Oh! I can map read...no problems there.

But I can't tell my left from my right!!!

So when I say "LEFT!" to my D/H he says "your left or my left"? I say"Left"....he turns left then I say "Oh!! I meant Right!"

He then says...#*!@~#...or words to that effect!

[rcperryls]

Reminds me of the time we were driving in the Appalachian mountains sometime in the 1990's and I was reading the map and I couldn't find the highway we were on. My DH used those same words as Wendy's DH because he needed to know which exit to take. I swore it wasn't there. At which point I looked at the map and saw the date. Sometime in the 1970's (DH never threw maps away). The highway (or at least the part we were on) hadn't been built yet! We just started laughing and from then on checked dates. (Since I am always lost and don't know my right from my left, the assumption I was at fault was understandable. I need a GPS to get across town )

Carole

[shadyglade]

I stitch in the car occasionally for long road trips. As others have said, you definitely only want to attempt if you're someone who doesn't get motion sick generally, and I've found that doing it while sitting in the passenger seat is definitely better than attempting while sitting in the back seat (although both are doable for me).

We always take extra pillows with us on our road trips, so I like to stitch with the pillow sitting on my lap to give me a mini table of sorts. I can lay out all of my stitching and tools and supplies without having them roll all over the place.

I'd concur with the other advice that's been offered (choosing an easy pattern, etc). I took prefer working with projects that I have already carded the floss, because bobbins are more messy to work with. I usually work on ornaments or something small, so that if something happens to the project (heaven forbid ) I can re-do it without too much trouble. I keep my project in a gallon Ziploc bag whenever I'm not stitching on it, and I try to keep it flat and out of the way somewhere (under the seat or something).

[cairee]

I stitch in the car all the time! my last road trip was taken up working on angel of the morning. not too many color changes (I worked on 2 colors on the trip) and over 2 on 32ct so the stitches werent too tiny. I thought I could work on 25ct in the car but its too difficult to work small sitches. keeping the color changes to a minimum helps with how much you have to bring along, I just put the bobbins in a ziplock back with my scissors and extra needles, I loose needles often enough to warrent bringing extra. a needle threader is a good thing to take on a road trip too, threading needles in the car can be tricky.

[ayna]

Not often, our roads cause too much movement! I find it much easier to knit.

[sharestitches]

And...I'm back from camp! Slightly exhausted and whatnot, but none the worse for the wear.

Thank you for all the feedback...I meant to post a "thank you" before I left, but things just got too crazy with camp prep.

I tried out car-stitching and it worked great. I don't get motion sickness, but I can definitely see how it could bother folks. I brought two projects to experiment with. A small kit that was in the back of my stash that was given to me as a gift a while back. It was on 14ct aida so I thought it would be the easiest to work with. The other was a "Belle and Boo" design to stitch on 25ct of something (my mother gave me a whole stash of unlabeled fabric so I have no idea what kind of fabric it is).

I never got the opportunity to try the 25ct...but I found the 14ct to be easy to work on. The biggest obstacle was just space to operate in (we had 10 kids and 4 adults in a 15 passenger van so things were pretty tight), but I finished about half of the kit and should be able to finish that up quickly enough this week.

[Rose]

Yeah!!!!!! glad you were able to get in some stitching time!!!!!!!

[mattcrossstitches]

Just got back from a trip to Ontario -- six hours by bus each way -- and got a lot of xs work done. It was occasionally difficult, especially when someone was sitting next to me or the roads were rough, but it went pretty well for me. Fairly complex project, too.

[JeanFarish]

Glad you made it back safe and sound AND with a lot of progress on your kit!

[Serinde]

Now I'm alot older and my eyes aren't what they used to be and I like my stitchy-stand set-up, so I won't be stitching in the car anymore. (sigh - oh for the olden days...)

If I have my contacts in I need my magnifier... if I don't have them in I can't see the sat nav or map to do my navigator's duty... (anyway I hate not being able to see properly). No car stitching for me. But on the train is just fine (apart from the time I left my almost finished bookmark behind...)