IHSW in the Future

IHSW is hosted by Joysze of Random Ramblings

I always sign up for Numb Bum Weekend but usually forget to do the post on the Monday!  Anyway, this weekend I was working both days so I added in Friday as well to get a decent amount of stitching done.  I focused on Elizabeth Shephard, a Scarlet Letter reproduction.  Here is where she started the weekend:

And here she is now:

Stitched on 30 count linen using AVAS silks

The brown flower in the top right was just so addictive, I stitched all of that motif on Friday and then half the bird motif on the other two days.  It's interesting that as you stitch you can see where the original would have been joined up but Marsha has charted it as it looks now complete with the worn away gaps where threads would have been.  This is particularly noticeable in the stems, vines and leaves.

The Scarlet Letter Year Group are planning a Summer Outing this year to the Manor House of Micheal and Elizabeth Feller in the Cotswolds.  If anyone would care to join us, please let me know.  There are two trips planned, one on 26th August and one in July (date to be advised).  The house will be open throughout the summer if you want to visit with your own group too.

Becca from Finding Flapjack has come up with a great idea for blogging prompts.  Here is the current one:

One hundred years ago, authors and other storytellers thought we'd have flying cars and apartments on Mars by now.  How do you think the world will look 100 years from now?  How long might it take for the future to really look like "the future" and why?

I read a lot of Science Fiction and in many ways we are living in the Future they predicted.  Although we don't have the flying cars yet we are looking at driverless cars now.  If you have read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy you will recognise the guide itself as an e-Reader.  How many of you are reading this on an e-Reader or iPad?  We have voice-activated computers, touchscreen computers and even eye-gaze computers for tetraplegic people.  Remember the communicators in Captain Kirk's Star Trek?  I specifically bought a clam-shell mobile phone so I could snap it shut and say "Kirk out" at the end of conversations!  Only in my head obviously!

So what will the future hold?  Manned missions to Mars are being planned so we may have a small colony there.  Technology will continue to make huge advances, especially in the medical fields.  There is so much they can do to help people (with the money to pay) now it would be good to see it spread to helping everyone.  Bill Gates' vaccination program is an example of a wealthy person using their money for the greater good.  I'd also like to see more tolerance for people; we have slowly been moving towards greater acceptance of anyone who is not a healthy white heterosexual man but with the rise of the far right political parties this is being eroded far too rapidly.

Maybe we will go backwards and become more interested in the handmade and bespoke?  After all, look at the rise of "shabby chic" and DIY.  I am sure cross stitch will still be as popular in 100 years as it is now.  Maybe some of my younger followers will still be alive and blogging about it all!

One of the issues with technology is how quickly it becomes obsolete.  Who has a cupboard full of VHS tapes at home?  Who has a loft full of vinyl?  Who has lost their early blog posts because that platform is no longer supported?  What about all those downloaded photos and charts?  Do you diligently back them up and load them onto your new PC every time you change it?  Hope you're not still using floppy disks for that purpose?

One thing which won't change is that children will pick it all up much more quickly than adults will!  I look at the way my son who cannot even read can find his way around the internet to find his favourite clips and games.  He managed to flip the PC screen display 90 degrees the other day and was then trying to turn the monitor screen so he could see it properly!  I had to Google to find out how to switch it back (Ctrl, Alt and a directional arrow in case you have a child who does this sort of thing too).

Finally, Jocondine has published the answer to the first clue in her Journey Around France.  She will be putting up the next clue on Wednesday so if you enjoy a puzzle with a needlework theme, do pop over and test your brain.  The clues really are very well thought out and very educational too!