Monday, February 19, 2007

In Search of Light

For a couple of years I've been longing for a Daylight Floor lamp. I saw one in the Nordic Needle catalog and flipped. It was a stitching lamp but didn't look like an office lamp, but it was well, $200+. No way was this in my budget. A week or so ago while wandering around Walmart, yes I said it, WALMART, I found a floor lamp that I thought would work well for a stitching lamp. It's a Mainstays Tourchiere with Reading lamp. It was $12.74(and yes while it is a floor lamp in theory it does look as cheap)inexpensive as you might imagine.) I checked it out several times, pondered why it might or might not work, went back and checked out all the various light bulbs offered in the lightbulb department. Would a GE Daylight 100 bulb(26watt) work as well as one of the Ott-lite bulbs or the Daylight bulbs? Since I really had nothing to compare them to other than how the light appears on my fabric, I gave in and bought the cheap inexpensive lamp and the cheap alternative light bulbs.

The results of my experiment are: I can freakin' see! I had no idea how horribly wretched the lighting in my house was until I could actually see again. The GE lightbulbs, while I cannot do a true lightbulb to lightbulb comparison, the GE works for me. Defintely worth the $8 I paid for two.

I'm telling you this because there has to be other stitchers out there like me, wanting the Ott-lite or the Daylight lamp and thinking, "I really can't spend the money on this right now but I can't freakin' see, what can I do?" I just want you all to know that there are options, for $20 I was able to put together a lamp to stitch by that isn't horrible in appearance. No one would know that the shades are plastic instead of glass--ok I'm reaching there, but if you're saving up for that great stitching lamp, see what you can do to make your stitching more enjoyable until you can buy it. Wander some stores, check out the lightbulb options and see what you can work with. For a while I was using a gooseneck desk lamp and a Reveal bulb, the difference between that and this GE Daylight 100 bulb is amazing.

The youngest son has already requested one of these lamps to read by at night. He thinks it's pretty cool.

I do believe the one difference in my put together lamp than the Ottlite or Daylight lamp is that it does kind of light up the room. Not as much as the overhead lighting but one of my neighbors knocked on the door and wanted to know if aliens had landed in my living room because it was glowing blue outside in the yard. I think the light from the better lamps is more contained.

The true test of this lamp will be And They Sinned. I'm stitching it on 36ct Dirty Linen. The fabric is so dark that it's frustrating to work on. I've considered switching out fabric because I don't have a lot accomplished on this piece yet but I really hate letting go. The fabric is purchased, the stitching has been started, and if I stop I might not pick it up ever again. So if this light makes a difference I just might get ATS finished this year. Seriously.

8 comments:

AuntSuze said...

Congrats on the new lamp. You will love stitching with it. I have a Ott-lite and cant stitch without it. You will surely notice the difference. Enjoy!!!

Carol said...

My stitching light was a Christmas gift from the DH. I remember the box saying great for crafts and reading. He paid about $70-80 for it. It says it's daylight technology or something like that. It has made such a difference!! DH says he can see it all the way from his garage which is a couple of acres away from the house!! He said it made the whole room glow and cast light out into the yard! LOL But I can SEE!!!!!!

Kali said...

Enjoy your new light! Being able to see DOES make a huge difference. When your bulb does go Ott makes their bulbs to fit standard light sockets if you have enough wattage, I LOVE mine :)

claudia said...

Good for you on the (cheap) inexpensive lighting find. I had gone to Staples Office supply and found a (what I thought to be) inexpensive solution for lighting. (It is Ott) I got a desk top model and, it is good, but I should have thought it out more like you did and gone with a floor model. Mine keeps getting knocked over! Let us know how your lighting works, I may make a trip to WalMart! (Gotta love that store)

Anonymous said...

GE Daylight 100. Got it. Now to find a lamp. My eyes are telling me that I need better lighting too. I'm not a spring chicken anymore. Thanks for the tip!

Lucy said...

I put on a lamp and a floor lamp and if the project is really small I have an additional light on my magnifier....now that's bad!!!

Von said...

I think it's great that you found an alternative light for your stitching that first of all works, and was also easy on your budget! Thanks so much for sharing your find with all of us. :D

Meari said...

I put together two "cheap" systems using the GE Reveal light bulbs and I think they're great! For less than $10 I have a swing arm lamp in my living room, and for about $5 I got one of those silver clamp on shop lights from Menards to clip to my headboard in the bedroom. Congrats on your solution! I agree... It's great to be able to see!!