Spec-ulation

For some time I have been making needlepoint spectacle cases, sometimes using normal canvas, and sometimes using plastic canvas as a base. They have been quite well received as gifts. As usual, most of them have gone off to their recipients before I have thought to record them for posterity, but there are some that I use myself, in particular, this one with the hollyhocks; just a scrap adapted from a much larger canvas in a Jill Gordon tapestry book that I have. There is a picture of another of her hollyhock designs here. I have attached a neck cord to this one so that I have my magnifying glasses always to hand. (Bossman thinks I should hang my keys around my neck as well!) At the Craft Club on Monday, Sally asked if she could commission me to make one to give to her 96 year old mother, as she was always losing her specs. She also said that she didn't want to pay a lot as she was planning on giving her lots of small presents for Christmas. I asked how much she was willing to pay, and she said between €5 and €10. As it takes between 10 and 15 hours to stitch one side...say a minimum total of 25 hours to stitch two sides, line and overcast with wool, I told her that I am more than willing to put in that effort if I am making a gift for someone, but not to sell it for less than the cost of the materials. At her crestfallen look, I offered to make her mother a less complicated version, after all, the idea was that she should have her specs to hand, not that she should have the needlepoint...so here is the patchwork version with ribbon for the neck, made with some of the scraps sent by Kate in return for some stiff interfacing.