Welcome back to another episode of Sunday’s Stitches & Stuff, a weekly chat about stitching and, well, other stuff. This week I thought I would finally share my review and opinion of the Millennium Frame & Aristo Stand, from Needle Needs.
It has been 6 months since my Millennium Frame & Aristo Stand arrived from the UK and the first thing I would like to say is that I love them! For the majority of my stitching life, I used hoops. Then a few years back I moved to Q-Snaps. This system work for me because I mainly worked on small to medium size projects that were very portable. At the time I was in school, then working 60+ hours/week, then traveling a lot, and moved several times. It made sense. Since I “settled down” four years ago, and we bought our first house two years ago, I have wanted to work on larger projects. That led me to consider a frame and stand system.
This was definitely going to be expensive and an investment in my stitching, so I did my research before making any decision. I finally decided on the Millennium Frame & Aristo Stand. The demo videos from Nicola Parkman definitely helped the decision making.
Now, because I had done my homework I knew that there was a long wait time for these items. Make sure you are aware of that and are willing to wait. For me, it was worth the wait, but others maybe not feel the same. On their website it says orders can take 8-12 weeks, I believe that is a typo. In my experience and talking with others who have ordered from Needle Needs, the wait time can be and most often is, 8-12 months.
After a year-long wait, my order arrived in late October and what a treat! They are very carefully packaged and as you open the box, the beautiful birch wood smell is just heavenly.
Since I was already paying for shipping from England, I wanted to make sure I ordered everything I thought I would need to utilize the frame. So, I ordered the 10-inch and 30-inch extension bars. Along with the 20-inch bars that came with the millennium frame I have three different widths available. However, now that I’ve been using it a while I realize I should have gotten a 36-inch bar instead of the 10-inch bar, which I have yet to use. C’est la vie!
In addition to the frame, I also ordered the Aristo lap stand. I know a lot of people work with and love their floor stands, but we have limited space in the house, plus they’re much more costly. Besides, I relocate my stitching spot all day. In the morning I’m bedside, then on the porch in the afternoon, then the living room in the evening. The Aristo stand is perfect for moving around and when I’m not stitching, my WIP is on display which I love!
Stitching with the Millennium Frame did take a little getting used to at first. I was a one-handed stitcher, but with the frame, I instinctively switched to double hand, which was interesting. Still, I thoroughly enjoy stitching with my Millennium Frame and it has greatly increased my enjoyment and love of cross stitching. If you can make the investment and are willing to wait for them, I would definitely recommend the Millennium Frame as a great investment and addition to your stitching toolbox.
That’s all, for now, I hope you have a great week and thanks for taking the time to read my post.
Bigger On The Inside 
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