Thank you Carl. Fabric is Aida 14 hpi. I always stitch on Aida, mostly 14 hpi occasionally 16 or 18 holes per inch. I see to be unable to stitch more than one line of evenweave or linen. Had a bit more blending on Christmas pudding & custard. Doing mouse's shoes now then that's him done so can move on another section. Richard does a lot of blending & I think 2 or 3 others do too.
Frame is ordinary square tapestry frame. Been x-stitching about 20 years, before that did tapestry & long stitch kits so I have several different sizes of frames. Sometimes use hoops (have several sizes of those as well) but only use them if design is completely inside the hoop. I do not seem to be able to get hoops marks out of stitching like many people are able to when they use hoop all the time even in large projects. Once you've been stitching a while you find out which methods of things suit you best, we all have our own preferences.
I now grid the fabric as it is easier for counting stitches. Use cotton to sew the grid but after I put post up asking which gridding marker was best I've bought the type Sally (Squirrel) uses. Not used one yet though I put masking tape round edges of Aida most times as it saves oversewing the edges to stop fabric fraying. Warning, I bought some .cheap masking tape thinking it was a good offer but it does not stick on the fabric quite as well as others, ha ha. DH let me have some of his for next time, his is a bit dearer but worth it as it sticks better.
Recently bought a Siesta seat stand & it helps me sew double handed so am a bit quicker now. Fits nicely on my chair under my legs. If you look on 2016 Stash and Acquisitions you will see it, plus the marker pens. If you look further back someone recently bought a Millennium Frame & a stand, think it was called Aristo stand. Those are dearer but stronger. I could not afford that but am delighted with mine. I already had frames from pre x-stitch days anyway.
