Review on Twisted Stitches: Unconventional Cross Stitch and Embroidery, 30 Corrupt Designs Revealed by Morgan Gilmore

I'm a fan of creating my own projects and this book doesn't allow me to do that at all. I think the design they offer is cool but you can't see what the finished product will look like, the patterns are laid out with different symbols making it difficult to imagine when you look at them and you can't most don't even see the full pattern as the book mostly only shows cropped images of the finished project. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if the book didn't suggest you use the drawings to craft certain items like keychains and aprons. It's hard to decide if you like the pattern when the only picture shows 1/2 of the finished product on the pillow warped or something. There aren't many designs on the site either, most of the book is devoted to explaining the designs. This is not a classic cross stitch book, but a collection of various complete products. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. It's not that it's poorly put together, but there are maybe 3 templates that I would actually use and couldn't see myself giving them away. It is not easily accessible for beginners and not flexible enough for advanced users.