Floss usage experiment. Results.

Hi Jim

Do you mind if I interject something here regarding floss usage?

Each person stitches a different way!
I for one prefer that the background be stitched as well, but there
are also two ways of doing that. One way produces a thin background
not in uniformity with the areas of color. The other way produces a
thicker background as it is stitched similar to the way the color
portion is stitched.
Simply, running down a line in one direction and then coming back the
opposite way uses the least amount of floss and also produces the
thinnest finished work.

I stitch in horizontal rows, starting at the upper left hand corner.
If more than 24 grid squares are crossed, I end that color floss and
start over with it again the next time I hit that color.

Other people pick a color and stitch almost every instance of that
color pulling the floss across the back, sometimes as far as it takes.

Ironically, I use much less floss than my DW even though I am ending a
color many times throughout a project.

You've seen my work, the backs look almost like the fronts, only
slightly rougher.

At one time I kept track of how many stitches I averaged per skein of
floss and posted those results here. My wife did the same and I
posted the results of what she was averaging.

In BOTH cases, our floss usage was much greater than the estimates
given on the charts. And although it appeared we were the only ones
who ALWAYS run out of floss in kitted works according the responses
received from our posts regarding same. The more people I talk to in
real life, the more people I find that just to buy kitted needlework,
because they too never have enough.

Not everyone can afford to run out and buy $100.00 worth of floss just
to make sure they have enough with LOTS left over after a project is
completed due to low usage of certain colors.

But there is nothing worse than running out of floss in a kitted
project! (One of the reasons I don't buy kitted projects).
On the other hand, my DW normally buys kitted projects, usually
because that's the only way they come.

We sat down with a brand new kitted project, forget which one now, but
we actually hand counted the number of each color stitch on the chart.
Then we compared that to the amounts of floss of each color provided.
Even the kitters themselves do not follow a set pattern for
determining floss usage. EG - Why would color A have 8 yards of floss
to cover only 36 closely spaced stitches, and color B only have 2
yards to cover 64 scattered stitches? Makes no sense!

And trying to match the floss provided in the kits, which comes from
cones with floss that comes in skeins is almost impossible!

I hope your efforts are noted by these companies who sell their charts
only in kitted packages!

TTUL
Gary