🐧 Janlynn 80-0477 Penguin Joy Stocking Counted Cross Stitch Kit: Delight in Festive Penguin-themed Holiday Décor! Review

This was a really fun pattern and it turned out great! It wasn't difficult, but varied enough to be interesting.

Worst Group. Even a thread does not fit into the attached needle. The "blunt" point pricked me and bled. Also, the thread is not enough to fill the stocking and the materials are very, very cheap.

Easy to follow instructions. It's a little tricky to find the middle as the chart isn't square due to the odd shape. The lining included in the kit looks pretty cheap. After all the sewing I've decided to buy a fabric that will last a few years and uses cotton.

The colors are not quite the same as the picture and some gradations of color are so subtle that they can only be seen in the brightest light. I had to buy a new orange thread so that the detail of the penguin legs could be seen. When you spend a lot of time counting carefully, you want to see the details you've created. I've also found that special shiny threads mixed with regular threads will knot, snag and damage cotton threads. It was difficult to work with and didn't have the nice finished

Sample card is very light and difficult to read. I've duplicated and darkened it, but some of the characters are still hard to make out. The floss for the hats' fur is yellow rather than white, as in the picture. I even double-checked that I was using the correct thread according to the pattern. Other reviews report a lack of some floss colors; In that case I need to update my rating.

This was the first cross stitch stocking I ever made and it almost made me give up altogether. About half of my entire time was spent simply severing the thread, which I had to manually unwind and unwind inch by inch or it would tangle or snap. Now that you've made four extra stockings in a good set (e.g. Dimensions), you can simply pull the thread and separate them instantly and smoothly, like pulling a string. The stocking is pretty cute when finished but it's such a problem I would buy…

I have read some reviews I think the set must have been revised as there are no complaints. There was no needle, which suits me perfectly. There seems to be a lot of threads for the kit and yes of course separating the thread is an issue but when not? So far the stocking is going very well. The template is easy to read (again they must have updated this set). I don't recommend this for beginners. I'm probably at an intermediate level in cross stitch and it's pretty easy so far, but it's a lot…