Online Security - Test 2 - 4/29/30

4/29/30--This is a test only.  Please ignore.  Thanks.

March 19, 2024--Wow, have I been busy, but unfortunately not with needlepoint.  Recently my husband and I have become aware of the need to “lock down”, for security purposes, all of our online dealings, such as with email, financial, shopping and entertainment accounts.   This has entailed educating ourselves on the meaning and use of MFAs (Multi-Factor Authentications) that go beyond 2FAs (2 Factor Authentications where, in addition to using a password, a code is sent to your telephone via text to verify your identity).   

You can stop reading here if this subject is of no interest to you (and I wouldn’t blame you for that).

We felt secure with 2FAs, but not so much now that "sim swapping" has become very popular.  We understand that even if your mobile carrier requires a security code before they’ll work with you, or someone claiming to be you, there is no guarantee that a disgruntled employee of the company will not sell your data (and security code) to the highest bidder (and that’s already being done).  So now, as part of the MFA arsenal, are online authenticator “passkeys” which give you a code to verify who you are, but the code changes every 30 seconds or so and is not sent through a text, but through an authenticator app.  This means anyone who obtains access to your phone probably cannot move quickly enough to cause you any financial hurt. 

But I understand the very best thing for online security now is to use hardware passkeys like those made by Yubiko*.  The idea is to set up two passkeys (one to keep with you and one to keep in a safe in case you lose one).   The process is a bit involved, but supposedly worth it since your accounts cannot be hacked at all without your hardware passkey.  This last process in setting up the hardware passkeys is the one that's stressing me out the most.  We're also using biometrics (fingerprint and facial recognition) as often as possible.

Of course, the first line of defense against being hacked is to use a very long and complex 20+ character password that is different for every online account.   So, I purchased a password manager to help me keep track of it all and to generate those convoluted passwords.   This too took time (I love alliterations).

Lastly, we stamped the following phrase on our foreheads—thou shall never open phishing links from any source whatsoever (emails, texts, etc.).  NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!   

If you’ve gotten to this point, congratulations!  And I feel your pain since you’ve probably gone through this too.  It has taken us some serious time to learn about, and set up, all the security measures--time I really wanted to spend needlepointing.  Oh well, and here’s the big sigh……

PS:  We haven't been hacked, thank God, but are aware of how sophisticated hackers have become in their attempts to bleed you dry, so we are taking preemptive steps to protect ourselves as much as possible.  And I hope my explanations are not too far off base.

*We have no financial affiliation with this company--just like their product.

Tumbling Stripes - Updated 4/27/28

April 27, 2024--Just had this framed by Michael's Arts & Crafts in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  Love the flat matt dark blue narrow frame.   It fits this piece beautifully.  

Tumbling Stripes Finished

March 29, 2024--The borders are now stitched, and this project is ready for framing.  I made one color change in the outermost border from dark red to dark blue.  I like the contrast much better.   The medium red in the border looks different from top to bottom due to the way the light shone on it.

Tumbling Stripes Completed

 March 25, 2024--All the stripes are stitched, and I will next work on the border.    I chose the same colors as the designer, Marily Owen, using the red, white and blue colorway, but my colors appear to be lighter than hers.  I also used 4 strands of the darkest RG Splendor color to fill in the "blank spaces".  Three strands, as instructed to use in the manual, proved to be too light in coverage and the canvas showed through.   I'm liking the results so far.

Tumbling Stripes with All Stripes Completed

February 1, 2024--I just finished the first seven or right-angle stripes of this adorable project.  The next 5 stripes will move diagonally to the left.  Those will be more of a challenge to work up since the edges of each stripe are stitched on the diagonal which will require me to pay more attention to stitch placement.  Here's what it looks like so far.

Tumbling Stripes Through Stripe 7

January 25, 2024--This interesting project, called Tumbling Stripes, is designed by Marilyn Owen and was offered by ANG's CyberPointers Chapter in April of 2021.  However, I never did anything with it and filed the .pdf instructions under "Projects on Hold" on my PC, thinking it would never see the light of day.  Well, it has now come out to play with the NJNA Chapter of ANG whose members have started working on it this month, and I've decided to join them (I'm also a member of the chapter).  

I like this type of project because of the wide variety of stitches and interesting pattern.  It has 12 rows or "stripes" repeated in 4 areas or quadrants.  The first 7 stripes angle to the right while the bottom 5 stripes (A through E) angle to the left, giving the appearance of a rolling or tumbling ball.  

I'm working up my project in the blue and red colorway and below is a photo of the first two stripes stitched so far.  

Tumbling Stripes through Stripe 2

Here's a photo of the completed project as stitched by the designer.

Tumbling Stripes designed by Marilyn Owen Project Photo

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Bracelet and Earrings December 2012 Design

April 26, 2024--Just finished beading up this adorable bracelet and earrings set designed by Deb Moffett-Hall entitled December 2012.   It's made with gold and copper beads along with bronze fire polish gems.  The earrings are the first I've ever done and had no trouble with Deb's wonderful instructions.

The set will be fun to wear.

Bracelet and Earrings December 2012 Pattern Finished

Santa Sugarplum 2022 - Updated 4/25/24

April 25, 2024--Done!  This was a delightful project to stitch and I especially love the "candy" stitched onto the crown's brim.   There's a plastic sugarplum to attach to the crown when this is finished into an ornament.  This santa is definitely a cutie and is the 17th of Janet Zickler Casey's Santas stitched to date.

Santa Sugarplum Completed

January 9, 2024--Wanted to start something new, so what better way to begin the year than with one of Janet Zickler Casey's santas--this time Sugarplum Santa from 2022.  Since I didn't stitch any of her santas in 2023, I hope to get two or three done this year (as of today, I've stitched 16 santas and have 11 more to do).

Here's what's done so far with Sugarplum.  Per instructions, the face is always stitched first (I'll do the moustache, eyebrows, and outline of the eyes last).   Next, I'll work from the top down, stitching the hat, band, and beard.  These sections are the most fun to work up and will get done quickly.  Stay tuned for its completion.

Santa Sugarplum Face Stitched

 

This was a class given by Janet Zickler Casey at the 2022 ANG Seminar in Tucson, AZ.  Even though I had signed up to take the class, I was unable to take it since I was quarantined for half of the seminar with COVID.  Dang.  But I've done enough of her santas that I feel confident I can stitch this with written instructions only.

Angels Clothespin for Hospice - Updated 4/23/24

April 23, 2024--The last of the three Clothespin Angels is now stitched and ready for assembly at my ANG chapter's meeting in August.  This one simply states Happy Holidays with lots of embellishments. 

Angels Clothespin Happy Holidays Completed

Angels Clothespin All Three Completed

April 16, 2024--Now the second of the Clothespin Angels has been stitched--this one called Candles.  Now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing, I'm breezing along nicely.  One more to stitch up, then it's assembly time.   

Angel Clothespin Candles Completed

Angels Clothespin Stitched to Date

April 12, 2024--Have completed one of the Clothespin Angels.  This one is called Joy and was a real learning process for me.  First of all, I had to call our chapter's fearless project leader, Shirley H, on how many strands of floss to use on the 18 count Aida cloth.  I started with 2 strands but thought it might be too bulky.  Shirley agreed and recommended using only 1 strand.  Yay!  No laying or railroading the strands together.  Of course, I had to rip out what had been stitched so far, but that was fine since I totally messed up the "half" cross stitches.  

When working up the half stitches in this project, Shirley advised that only 1/4 of a regular cross stitch needed to be done since the backstitching would complete the half stitch.  See the two half stitches circled in the second photo below.  I'm so glad I checked with her about this--the results are much neater and less bulky than what I had initially done. 

I'm now hoping I didn't work up the design too low on the "skirt".  Need room to add lace around the bottom edge.  I also hope that the fabric will iron out nicely when all the stitching is done since I'm not using stretcher bars or a hoop--instead I'm stitching "in hand".

Angel Clothespin Joy Completed

Half Stitch Question

Boy, do I feel like a doofus on this project.  

April 3, 2024--My local ANG chapter, Delaware's Seashore Chapter, is putting together little angels for the Christmas tree at Delaware Hospice.  We received our kits from the member who is organizing this project (thanks Shirley H) which has enough materials to put together three angels (all we had to do was supply our own threads, needles, embroidery hoop, etc.).  

After cross-stitching the design on the "skirt", the fabric will be edged with lace and glued unto a clothespin.  Then each angel will be embellished with curly hair, drawn faces, a bow, etc.   Even though this isn't something I'd normally do (I generally don't like "crafty" things), they are too cute to resist.

Angels Clothespin Materials

Angels Clothespin Skirt and Sleeves drawn on 18 count Aido Cloth

I finally had an opportunity to use my light board to trace the skirt and sleeve patterns unto the Aida cloth.  I've had the light board for ten plus years now and besides loaning it out to a friend, it's been used only two other times.  Of course, I could have taped the master design unto a window, but it's a dark and rainy day, so the light board was used.  I should mention that I had to grab a ladder to pull the light board down from a top shelf in the closet, then put it back when done where it'll probably sit for another ten years.