• Source: Cross Stitcher Magazine, April 2016
• Designer: Maria Diaz
• Supplied: wooden shape, threads, needle, button, length of ribbon
• Overall: yeah, OK

I must admit that I brought this one just because it was there. I was looking for the Summer issue as stitchtherapyblog is featured, but we’re so far behind it wasn’t on the shelf – this is issue 303 and she’s in 306! However there’s a couple of charts in this issue I will use, so it’s not a wasted trip.

I am avoiding the autumn side of my biscornu so I decided to stitch Bunny in my downtime yesterday. He’s cute, isn’t he?

But I do have a couple of issues with the packet & instructions.

• If it’s a brooch, as the suggested finish, why wasn’t there felt or even interfacing to cover & protect the back during use?
• The suggestion is to use the loop knot to start. Now, I consider myself an intermediate and experienced stitcher, but I’ve yet to work out how to loop start with an uneven number of threads! I did need to use the suggested 3 strands to get the full coverage – 4 was too much, 2 left gaps.
• The thread lengths are far too small to loop start anyway. You’d only get 8-10 stitches completed at a time.
• Beginner stitchers would benefit by having the number of thread lengths mentioned, as well as colour. There isn’t a huge difference between lt brown (422) & chestnut (3828) but it would make the finished piece look odd if you stitched them the wrong way around.
• My wooden piece is cute and very evenly punched – but oddly smells liked smoked fish!

I’m not going to finish as a brooch. I’m planing on backing with felt and adding a large magnet so I can use as a needle minder or on the fridge.