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[CHAT] Trying Cross Stitch for the first time as an adult - What's the best way to buy floss? Are pre-stocked floss kits worth it?
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LubaUnderfoot is in chat
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I'm just getting back into the hobby. One of the big draws is how inexpensive it is for a textile based craft! I've been a yarn crafter since I was wee and holy smokes is it refreshing to find a budget friendly hobby.

Along those lines, what is the best way to get a decent floss stash? My budget is tight and I can't afford to waste money on duds, but I don't mind spending a little more for a quality product at a friendly local. I want the option to start a project with materials that I have on hand. Waiting until I can hit up a store makes me crazy. I try to plan ahead and get materials for my next bigger projects before I complete the one before it, but sometimes I find myself between projects. I also sometimes just get an itch to start something new and/or quick to get that shot of serotonin from completing a whole project in one or two sittings.

I've read a bunch of blogs about different kinds of floss, but the topics covered are mostly about fibre composition and/or storage method (skiens VS spools I think? I'm new) but not brand differentiators. Are any of the big producers a little bit nicer than the others? What about comparative colour ranges? Are there any sleeper companies that are doing something cool?

Aside from questioning about buying individual, uh, units (?) of floss, I'm curious about preselected kits. Are they ever worth it? Does anyone make a particularly good one? Are these only good for use on smaller projects? I know from knitting/crochet that it's a good idea to buy all the material you need for a project at the same time. Are these kits hard to find matches for? Are there different dye lots between colours, I mean, is the same shade sometimes lighter or darker side by side?

Or is it better to skip the kaboodle? I know that I'll eventually end up with a sizeable collection between impulse buys and leftovers from projects, but I am an extremely impatient person.

I'm probably getting to the point where my 'tism is showing, I promise we're getting to the end.

The other thought that crossed my mind was buying a selection of separate skiens of floss, with the goal of having a decent variety of colours to make (or at least get a good start on) smaller, simple patterns with limited pallets. Is that practical at all? If it is, is there like a list of colours that are wise to have on hand? I don't know much about colour theory beyond ROYGBIV.

I think that's all my questions for now, thanks for reading this far! Answer with whatever comes to mind - I clearly dig tangents. TIA.

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5 years ago