Struggling On - to some effect

I was  disappointed recently - well it was several months ago - to realise that I struggle to do all the fine cross stitch that I thought I would romp through, post op, and post thesis. Either I need a little laser work on my left eye or my sight is just getting worse with age, but whatever the cause, it's very difficult to do these days. And that is sad, because I have a lot of things either started or queuing up to be done.

I have experimented with a hands free magnifier which helps a little but which rather gets in the way of me pulling my threads through the fabric and so work is painfully slow.

It is easier on aida than on linen as the holes are much more obvious. This is of course exactly the reason why I have always preferred to work on linen, or another evenweave fabric, rather than aida but in a spirit of 'needs must' I resurrected an almost finished piece of blackwork done on Aida a couple of evenings ago and voilà!  here it is finished. 

The thing that looks like a black mark coming out of her head is in fact a crease which is proving very non-susceptible to being pressed out, much to my chagrin. Other than that I am quite pleased with this, especially as the designer had left some would be fiddly bits empty - a huge area around the rose for example and I have filled them in. I can't say it's the most wonderful thing I have ever done, and I cannot imagine why I ever bought the kit, unless it was to 'have a go at blackwork', in which case I will forgive msyelf.

I will get it framed with a nice black mount and a gold frame, but not just yet since I suspect the framing/card shop has closed for the duration and even if it's not, going to it could hardly be classed as necessary travel. One day though, when this is all over ...

Meanwhile if anyone has tips for getting that crease out of the fabric, please don't hesitate to write it in the comments!