I just got back from a quick business trip.  Sadly, I came back with a hitchhiker – a bad cold.  But to cheer me up upon arrival was my package from Hedgehog Handworks, with my new Hardwicke Manor sitting hoop frame:

As you can see, I was so excited, I had to try it out right away, even before wrapping the inner hoop in twill tape.  I’ll do that this weekend.

First the specs of my long-coveted indulgence.  There are two joints providing freedom of movement.  Looking at the back of the thing, the first is a slider that regulates height.  The turned barrel at the base of the main vertical has a wooden screw tightener, allowing the vertical arm to be raised and lowered.  Minimum height (pushed all the way in, with the frame positioned parallel to the ground) is 13.5 inches measured from table top to BOTTOM edge of the frame.  Max height on which the tightening screw can be brought to bear is about 18.5 inches. The vertical stick also allows the frame to be rotated left and right, provided the wood screw is loosened to avoid damage.

The second degree of freedom is the y-shaped joint at the top of the vertical stem.  The fixed attachment piece from the round frame fits into the slit of the y-shape, and is tightened by a bolt with a metal wing nut.  (I will probably replace the wing nut with something a bit more finger-friendly in the future).  This allows the frame head to swivel up and down, allowing access to the reverse of the work.

“Orthodox” use position and all of the pix I can find on line show the large paddle piece at the bottom being slid under the left hip, so that both legs sit upon it, and the frame is presented across the user’s lap. Users are also shown sitting bolt-upright on a chair or a sofa.

I’m a bit more relaxed.  My favorite stitching chair is a Morris chair, with wide wooden arms, like mini-shelves left and right.  It reclines.  Instead of sitting upright, I tend to stitch in the reclined position.  I also don’t want to bark the chair’s woodwork with the frame, so instead I straddle the base, with the paddle-bottom underneath my right thigh.  I can adjust the position of the hoop so that it’s perfectly comfortable and accessible in that position.

All in all, I am VERY pleased, although I may need to stitch myself a small bolster on which to rest my left elbow when working with that hand beneath the frame.  The chair arms are too high for comfort, and some support would be useful for extended sessions.  Oh heavens.  A quick project to make something useful that I can cover with MORE stitching.  However will I cope?  🙂

In the same order, I also received some tambour embroidery hooks.  I won’t show them here, but will save them for a future piece.  Hmm…. that elbow cushion…  What do you think?

And finally as a cheer-me-up, Younger Daughter, Needle Felting Maven and all around good kid, saw that I was in need of a small, weighted pin cushion that was presentable to leave here in the library next to my chair.  Although she usually does far more intricate shapes (dragons, tigers, airplanes), she made me a little sea-urchin, weighted in the bottom center with a couple of big rupee coins, for extra sentimental value.  It’s adorable, simple, in colors that match the rug in the library, and at about 1.5 inches across, with the coins giving it a low center of gravity, so it doesn’t go skittering off – the perfect size and weight.

Finally, I have been making progress on Trifles.  As you can see, I’ve got less than a quarter of the surround left to go.  And every single gear uses a different filling.