Last week I received a surprise email from Yiota asking me if I would like to choose and then review one of her many counted cross stitch kits ~ I was really chuffed to be asked and as I've come to a halt with my snowmen stitch I yelled a big 'YES PLEASE!'
Her on-line shop is extensive and includes Victorian inspired designs, popular fine art designs and many other categories such as fantasy, fairies, animals, flowers and much much more and the kit prices are very competitive.
After narrowing my choice down to 3, I finally decided on . . .
I love this design and know the original painting by Gustav Klimt ~ this is the centre portion of the original painting but is reproduced very accurately. I let Yiota know my choice and the following day . . . there it sat on the doormat in a sturdy secure envelope clearly marked 'Do Not Bend'.
The kit is extremely well put together . . .
the chart is presented in black and white on 2 x A3 sheets of good quality paper
the 14-count Aida fabric (the only choice of fabric but you do have the option of purchasing or downloading the charts rather than full kits) is quite soft and supple and not the hard, course material I remember from the past and the threads are Maderia threads and come pre-wound on bobbins each marked with their shade code (DMC alternatives are listed!).
the chart is presented in black and white on 2 x A3 sheets of good quality paper
the 14-count Aida fabric (the only choice of fabric but you do have the option of purchasing or downloading the charts rather than full kits) is quite soft and supple and not the hard, course material I remember from the past and the threads are Maderia threads and come pre-wound on bobbins each marked with their shade code (DMC alternatives are listed!).
So, what next . . . . well, start stitching of course . . .
I'm loving it, something different from my recent stitches and I love the curls and patterns of the tree branches. I find I'm stitching it really randomly as the colour changes are frequent and as soon as I start one curl I'm tempted by another so I'm hopping all over the chart!
So far so good ~ my only criticism is that the thread numbers and symbols only appear in a horizontal line at the bottom of only one of the charts, to make life a little easier I have written them out in a vertical list form on the second part of the chart and also drawn the symbols on the labels on the thread bobbins ~ nothing major but helpful to me!
So far so good ~ my only criticism is that the thread numbers and symbols only appear in a horizontal line at the bottom of only one of the charts, to make life a little easier I have written them out in a vertical list form on the second part of the chart and also drawn the symbols on the labels on the thread bobbins ~ nothing major but helpful to me!
Go take a look yourself and see all her lovely designs, there are lots of Christmas options and the Victorian snowy street scenes are gorgeous. You can find Yiota at http://www.yiotas-xstitch.com/
Thanks for stopping by
HAPPY STITCHING
xxx
