Term of the Week: Needle Minder

TofW9I had never heard of this Term of the Week until a little while ago, and I had to share it with my readers!

This term actually goes by many names – needle minder, needle parker, or needle magnet are the three that I’ve heard the most associated with this term.

So what exactly is a Needle Minder?

Cat Needle Minder from 123Stitch.com

A Needle Minder is pretty much exactly what you would think it would be: it is a powerful magnet that you place in your work area or on your project as a way to hold your needles. That way the needle can’t get lost by rolling off your work area or falling out of your fabric. It saves a lot of trouble of losing needles and having people find them later by stepping on them or sitting on them.

While you can stick a magnet near your work area and let that be that, most Needle Minders are decorated with a picture or design on top of the magnet. The pictures and designs to choose from are endless, and if you can’t find the one you’re looking for, it’s easy to find someone who can custom make one for you (or you can make it yourself)!

For some more examples of Needle Minders and the different designs available, check out 123Stitch.com.

While I don’t own a Needle Minder yet, it’s definitely the next thing I want to add to my cross-stitching stash!

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“Term of the Week” is a weekly blog post highlighting a new word or phrase commonly used among cross-stitchers but not found in an ordinary dictionary. These posts are to help explain the words’ meanings in context and provide a resource for anyone wondering what a term like “frogging” means. Check back every Thursday!

The Five-Minute Stitch! EP00 – Pilot

EP00

Today is the start of a brand new project!

I do not do enough stitching for writing a blog about it… I’ve barely stitched at all the last few months! 🙁 So, I am going to hold myself accountable: stitch for at least five minutes three days a week. Easy enough to start with, right? I’m hoping that I can increase that to five minutes every day as time goes on. And if the format goes well, I might change up the Progress Reports to be done per video, that way I can show you all the progress that’s been done! 🙂

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Why I Hate Large Projects

RC1

Okay, hate seems like a strong word. It’s not that I hate large projects, it’s more that I lose my stitchy motivation very, very quickly on projects that are bigger than 5 inches by 7 inches.

I’m 19 years old, but I’ve been stitching since I was 8 years old. Starting out, the projects I did were small and not very complex. (See Smiley Flower and Love Bug). They were projects one would expect an eight year old to do. As I got older, I got better at stitching, and my ability to take on bigger and more detailed projects grew until I could take on some very large, complex projects if I felt like it.

And yet I don’t. My walls are covered in mini finishes and the biggest piece I have completed so far was a stamped 10 in. x 12 in. Corinthians piece that I made as a gift for my boyfriend – but the biggest piece after that is only 5 in. by 7 in. I don’t like big pieces, I just don’t.

Here are a few of the reasons why:

  • Time Consuming
    One of my biggest problems with large pieces is that they’re time consuming. Because larger pieces are allowed to have more detail, the pieces inevitably take up more time: more time to actually make the crosses, more time spent back-stitching, more time spent changing threads, you name it and you’re spending on average twice as much time doing it on a larger project than you are on a smaller project. Not to mention having to stop and mark the chart frequently so you don’t lose your place!
  • Slower Progress
    This is a big one for me too. I’ll explain: say you have two projects. One is a large piece, say 5 x 7 in., and the other is a 2 x 4 in. piece. You do 100 stitches on each project and then stop to compare the progress you’ve made. 100 stitches is a lot of stitches, right? Odds are, you’ve nearly completed the 2 x 4 piece. But the 5 x 7 piece? You still have more than three quarters of the project left to go. When I sink two or three hours into doing 100 stitches, and then stop to calculate my project, I find myself getting discouraged that I can do 200 or more stitches in one sitting and still have so much of the project left to go.
  • Lack of Motivation
    I love watching a project come to life. But when I’m faced with spend hours stitching on a large project and getting nowhere, or stitching on a smaller one and seeing the image unfold and feeling as if I’m getting progress done… I lose motivation very quickly for the big projects.

Maybe as I do more projects my stitching bug for large projects will be born and I can work on larger, more intricate projects. Because they do look beautiful. I love looking at bigger projects and seeing all the details and envisioning all the work that was put into making them. But as for me? I might have one or two BAPs going but it’ll be years before I can work on them until they’re finished, and they’ll all turn into UFOs in the process!

How do you feel about large projects? Do you love them? What keeps you motivated? If you’re like me, what are some of the things you don’t like about large projects? Leave a comment below or join the discussion over at our Facebook page!

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“Random Corner” is a place for all articles related to all manners of cross-stitchery and the cross-stitch community that don’t fall into the topics covered in the regular segments. There is no set schedule for Random Corner articles, they’re just random!

By the way – to keep up on Little Thread Crafts stitching news and get pictures, updates, and more that don’t appear on the blog until much later, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! I would greatly appreciate it!

Crazy Stitching Habits #10

CSH #10

As a stitcher, you can put your needles in a variety of places for temporary safe-keeping. The problem is keeping track of where they all go because you often forget you left it there.

Here are some places your needles can be in case you’ve lost one:

  • the couch cushion or arm
  • the floor
  • the curtains
  • somewhere in your clothes
  • a pet’s collar
  • a pin cushion (yeah right like it ever ends up there)
  • your project
  • your project you aren’t working on at the moment
  • a counter top
  • a spouse, child, or relative’s body part (from stepping, sitting, or otherwise coming in contact with the needle)

(I once stuck a threaded needle in the arm of a chair for a moment and walked away only for one of my cats to jump up and start eating the thread. She nearly had the needle in her mouth when I came back and pulled the whole thing, thread and all, out in one pull. She seemed very offended I saved her life. Silly cats.)

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Crazy Stitching Habits #9

CSH #9

Some people don’t mind it, and I don’t most of the time, not when the mistake can just be worked around… but I had a project recently, a kit, where I’d used the wrong shade of green… one had 6 skeins, the other only had 3 skeins and that was the one I used on accident, so I couldn’t tear out the color because I was out of the shade. I was so discouraged I wanted to just toss out the kit and start over with something new. 🙁

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Crazy Stitching Habits #8

CSH #8

The worst is when you realize you’ve made the mistake after hours of stitching… because then you have to undo all the work you put into it. So frustrating!

Don’t know what frogging means? There’s a Term of the Week on it!

Term of the Week: Frogging

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Crazy Stitching Habits #6

CSH #6

I was writing some articles today that mention mistakes I’ve made in pieces… I’m sure no one else would ever notice them, but they stand out like sore thumbs to me!

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Crazy Stitching Habits #5

CSH #5

For me, it was when I went to Ellis Island and the Immigration Museum. I ended up taking a lot more pictures of the stitchery examples they had than the rest of the museum! I meant to upload pictures here, but the pictures keep disappearing. I find them and lose them again. One day, one day!

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Progress Report: Native Wolf Dream Catcher

My first ever doomed project...

My first ever doomed project…

Today’s Progress Report actually has quite a story behind it. One that’s seven years in the making!

This project is actually the third cross-stitch piece I ever worked on. It would have been number three on Friday Finishes if I ever completed it. But… I didn’t. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my first UFO.

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