Lovelace Or Verdi?

Kirsten and I are well into our latest stitching venture - the Postcard Project is passé, now we are doing the Cross-Country-Collaboration. Cross-stitch motifs on rectangles of even-weave fabric will be flying back and forth between Norfolk and Sussex. We are using 11-count Aida. But how do you pronounce it?

Is it Ay-Dar [like computer genius Ms Lovelace] or Eye-Eee-Dar [Verdi's Egyptian Operatic heroine] ? I go with Verdi everytime!**

I struggled to find the cream 11-count we wanted [ having decided10 was too coarse, and 14 too fine] Then I came across the Duftin company online. I sent off for some fabric [it comes in specific precut sizes, one was just slightly bigger than we needed] and was incredibly impressed.

When I opened the envelope I found a square package of cotton with a card label. This opened up to reveal a tote bag.

The inside of the cardboard label explained all. There was 'happiness inside' 

A statement about their commitment to zero waste- so rather than a plastic carrier, i got a cotton tote bag which could be used for the project, and personalised with our own stitching. And the blank piece on the bag printed with a dot-to-dot fto amuse the children.

Inside that was the Aida, and that was kept flat with a piece of card printed with a basic stitching guide, and right in the middle a neat packet of three needles appropriate for the work.

This was good value, and excellent quality. I cut out the two rectangles, and zigzagged the edges on my machine to prevent fraying.

All in all a very satisfactory purchase. Duftin is a Hungarian company and they have produced a lot of kits, as well as selling the basic materials. The parcel came quickly, and I think I would be very happy to use them again for supplies. 

My other recent discovery has been the website pixel-stitch [here] which helps turn your photo into a cross stitch chart [and it's FREE!] I shall be blogging about my foray down that rabbit hole later.

**There's also a female singing group called fascinating Aida. Witty, but rather rude sometimes, so I am not posting a clip for fear of offending someone.