To sleep, perchance to dream..

Still in a bit of brainfry mode after all the storms and such, so I'm just going to drop a few memes today....

Tuesday Twosome 9/21/04 - Sleep...

1. How many hours on average do you get daily and is it enough?
On weekdays, somewhere between 5 and 6. Rather short of how much I probably should be getting. Weekends are a little better, in that I can sleep in. I probably average 9 hours. I laze around in bed a little longer on Saturdays but I don't know if one could really count drowsing punctuated by kid interrupts at 30-minute intervals as "sleep".

2. Can you sleep anywhere or does it have to be in a bed?
Oh, how I wish I could sleep anywhere! I can fall asleep on the couch if I'm tired enough, but in general it has to be a bed. I'd dearly love to be one of those people who can fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

3. When you go to sleep, does it need to be absolutely quiet or do you need a little noise (radio or TV)?
Most of the time, normal house/environmental background noise is enough. If DH is out of town, I sometimes find I sleep easier with soft music on, but most of the time it doesn't matter. Sometimes I can go to sleep with lights and TV on, other times I have great difficulty in doing so.

4. Name two things/situations that can ruin your sleep:
Having a lot on my mind, whether unfinished business, stress, or just general mental restlessness, is probably my single most common sleep disruptor. Physical discomfort is another.

5. Name two things you "must have" in order to sleep comfortably
I definitely sleep easier with DH beside me or at least at home (he can be on the computer and I can sleep knowing he's around). I also sleep easier in my own bed than I do while traveling.

---

Speaking of dreams, the last two Stitching Blogger's QotW have been dreamings...

9/27/04 - Would you or have you designed your own cross stitch design? If you have can we see it?
Over time I've had the occasional idea for a design, but they've never gone from brainstorm to implementation. Probably the closest thing I have is a 1-inch design as part of a tribute of sorts for Teresa Wentzler. The knotwork border doesn't show quite so well in the image, but looks okay at normal size.

Right now I mostly just play around with colors and such on existing patterns. Perhaps when I get more confident in my stitching abilities, I may try my hand at a design or two.

9/20/04 - If you could design your dream needlework/cross stitch shop, what would it be like?

Oh boy.... Well, first of all, it'd be hurricane proofed, either by building design, or by location. Preferably in a tower in a small castle in Wales!

I'd have at least two floors, one of which would be a stitching lounge, with a number of comfortable chairs and good lights, and small tables for putting notions or teacups on. There'd be a small tea/coffee service, like many bookstores have now. There'd be a shelf with design catalogs and stitching references and such.

The second floor would be well-supplied with complete lines of threads - standard flosses, silks, overdyeds, metallics. There'd also be a wide selection of beads, charms, and other embellishments, and plenty of essential items such as needles, scissors, and other tools. Shelves of packages containing fabrics, both standard colors and hand-dyeds. Okay, so it's a big floor. Maybe we should make it *three* floors. The third would contain racks of patterns from a wide variety of designers.

Hey, since this is just a dream anyway, why don't I add wormhole technology to allow instantaneous delivery of special orders of fabric, patterns, or such! And transporter technology, to allow stitchers from around the world to congregate in one location to stitch and chat.

But after all, other than the pleasure of actually being able to handle all the wonderful stitching supplies out there, and getting to meet other stitchers in person, the large number of online stores provides most of this already. Except for the comfy chairs!