Dimensions Gold Collection Counted Cross Stitch Kit, Beautiful Ballerina, White Aida, 14'' x 14'', multi-colored, 18 Count

This is my 3rd item of Dimensions kits I have completed. Highly recommend a magnifier with light, otherwise I don't understand how anyone can complete the kit. From experience, I expected to run out of some colors, so in cases where 4 strands were called for I used 3, etc. invariably, I run out of floss in some colors no matter how careful I am. Curiously, I wound up with an excess for a few colors. Not sure how the floss amount determination is made when kits are put together., but I'm guessing its done via computer not by experience. When you run out of floss, you can find a cross reference sheet from the new company and replace with DMC versions if you can find them. Some times the colors don't quite match. These are the floss colors I ran out of and had to find replacements for on this pattern: 31069,14302, 14303, 15936, 15360, 13081, 13241, 17004, 13084, 17160, 15381, 14086, 11263

I read a lot of comments about the fact it’s hard to decipher the colour blocks and that you need to be careful with the amount of wool you have to work with. I’ll keep my stitches simple and so far, I don’t find the canvas coding to be a problem. For the price, it’s a good kit.

This is a review of the Hydrangea Bloom needlepoint kit.Kit comes with 3 ply tapestry wool (sorted out), needle, paper schematic map of canvas, interlock canvas with design printed atop and brief instructions.Kit is worked in tent stitch (half cross), but kit provides enough yarn to do it in continental style or basketweave (background areas mostly) which gives a nice heavy coverage on the back side for durability. There are also double French knot accents.Cons:Very difficult to see the highly detailed areas on the canvas in order to discern the small color blocks. Mostly in upper right hand bloom. Solution: I scanned the black/white schematic map and superimposed a 172 x 168 square grid atop using markup R-XP cross stitch software. (Really inexpensive I pad or iPhone app available on the App Store) You can likely overlay a grid using Photoshop as well.Quality of the interlock is poor but you get what you pay for.Pros:The color palette of the yarns is beautiful. On par I would say with Ehrman or Elizabeth Bradley palettes (31 colors). No garish, tacky shades here.The yarn is just slightly fuzzier than the old 3 ply Paternayan (now Colonial) but in general very comparable. Coverage with 2 strands on this 12 mesh is great. I prefer the smoothness of a non divisible wool like Appleton or DMC. However for this amount of yarn you would pay twice the kit price or more.Wishes:I wish that Dimensions would properly chart their needlepoint designs out similar to higher end needlepoint books or cross stitch charts an include that along with the blotchy schematic. Not that costly to add a sheet with a proper chart. I would simply prefer to count the design out as opposed to trying to make out the color blotches.Conclusion:Worth the kit cost. Avoid it if you are not willing to chart it out for yourself or you have trouble seeing.Update:After working with this for a few weeks I would suggest that you photo the color photo on the package then blow it up on your phone or pad in order to see the stitches in the difficult areas. The grid I suggested above is just too cumbersome and not as accurate as just counting from the enlarged photo where you can see the stitches. Also be very careful about yarn usage. They are cutting it extremely close with the yarn supplied. Honestly I wish DIMENSIONS would have charged 10% more and been slightly more generous with the yarn. I’m a frugal stitcher and am finding it difficult to not run out.

I thought it was expensive, but they give you a LOT of wool yarn. The charts and pattern makes it easy to sew. Everything you need to be successful! The designs and product of DIMENSIONS brand make this the finest quality of needlepoint in my opinion.

Very happy with this purchase. I have never done needlepoint before. It was a bit of a challenge, but definitely not difficult. I found it best to highlight the chart as I completed areas so I didn't get "lost". This was fun to do and took me less time to do than I thought it would. In fact, my mother loved it so much, I'm an doing another one for her for her birthday. There is plenty of yarn and everything is clearly marked. The only negative thing I can say is that the printed meshes were a little "off" square, but all I had to do was do a few extra rows to "straighten" it out. The edges are hidden once in the frame anyway. The suggestion is to make a pillow, but after working on this, I personally felt that putting it in a frame was much better way to go. I couldn't see this falling on the floor or someone actually sitting on it or using it as a pillow!! I have since done several other Dimension Needlepoint kits (six 5" x 5"). All came out great. This company does put out a great product at a reasonable price.

Very disappointed no thread or color chart. Package says it's included but not in it.

Wow... I will never buy another brand of needlepoint kit again. The threads come pre-sorted and labeled. The smaller bunches are tied to a cardboard template and the larger bunches are tied together with labels. This is great! No guessing about what color is what. No getting to a new section only to find you used the wrong color before. No more ripping out mistaken color blocks.My only not-so-positive comment is that, this is a 14x14 piece. The description, features and details listed in the Amazon listing are inconsistent. I was expecting a 5x7 piece, and was shocked when I got the 14x14 piece. Yikes! Bigger is not bad, just surprising.

I love how the yarns were all presented making it easy to identify.

Muy buena calidad. El producto llegó en menos de 24 horas

Maravilloso kit estampado de punto de cruz . Recomiendo !

It's intricate and beautiful

Le fil est de mauvaise qualité et se dédouble très rapidement. Déçue.