You get what you pay for...

I have two Mighty Bright magnifying lights that I really like. The problem with them is that I have had them for 5+ years and despite the name they are no longer mighty bright. To give credit to the lamps, I love them, and they have lasted awhile and do a great job. I use them when I am stitching on dark fabric or on counts higher than 28. The reason I have two is that an LNS was going out of business and I bought a greatly discounted lamp. I ended up using both because I have my charts propped up on a table beside me and use one the magnifiers to enhance the chart so I just have to glance up at it.

As I was saying, they are no longer mighty bright. I decided that I needed to replace at least my stitching magnifying lamp. I started looking around and the prices ranged from about $60 to almost $300. Well, I was trying to decide between an $60 Mighty Bright and a $150 Pro Magnifier when I found a magnifying lamp for $25 from Habands. It had an 8 x 10 inch magnifier and 16 LED lights. I was psyched. When I went to purchase it, I lucked into free shipping. Yeah me!!!!

So, the lamp arrived yesterday. I excitedly unpacked and put the lamp together. It went together like a breeze. I turned it on and boy was it bright. I started stitching with it and after an hour finally admitted that it was not going to work. The magnifier is plastic. This means that there is a slight distortion which is very hard on the eyes when stitching. I sadly put the lamp away. I am now trying to decide if I am going to return it. It will cost $9 to return, which means that I will only get $15 back. But really, what am I going to do with this lamp that I can't use. I noticed when I went to the company site, that this lamp is now listing for $50. I promise you all that it will not work for stitchers. I tried to see if it would work for my mother, but she sits too low on the couch and I couldn't get the gooseneck to bend enough for it to work for her.

I am now back to my original predicament of whether to purchase the Mighty Bright or go with the Pro Magnifier. The reason that I am considering the double in cost Pro Magnifier is because it has 30" view area, 3-diopter glass lens, and 60 LED lights. It looks like a very, very nice magnifier. I'm just not certain that I want to spend $150 on a light that I know I will only stay bright for about 5 years.

I have been stitching away and finished one of my HoHoS. I am now working on a Halloween piece that I changed from silk to overdyed cotton. I have also completed Mom's key fob and am steadily working on her  Mother's Day card. I did have to buy more thread for the Monkey Wrench. I ran out of Teal Frost. The new  thread seems a little darker to me. What I have decided to do is blend one strand of the old thread with one strand of the new. I don't have enough to complete the last Teal Frost element, but I think I will have enough to at least stitch the stitches closest to the edges where the other Teal Frost elements are. From the naked eye you can't really see a huge difference, but I still would rather have the areas where the two colors meet as close to identical as possible.

What else have I been doing? I'm so glad you asked. I have been going ebay crazy. I really need to stop. Theresa from Shakespeare's Peddler is my enabler. I have decided after this latest round of bids has ended, that I will not bid for a bit. It's almost like a gambling addiction.

This weekend I had my grandchildren with me. My youngest grandson is a year old and in love with my one year old English Mastiff puppy. She adores him and he adores her. When we are outside, he likes to "walk Bella".