My kids and I have always loved making crafts. As we work our way through history in our homeschool, crafts provide a wonderful hands-on learning experience to make the history more realistic to my kids. We recently made Egyptian spoon dolls while studying ancient Egypt and a delightful rain stick while studying the Mayans. Harrisville Designs is a New Hampshire company that makes a variety of craft supplies and kits, including the Needlepoint Kit for Beginners that we reviewed. The kit includes three plastic canvases, 100% pure wool yarn, a metal needle, and instructions for three needlepoint projects.

We liked the idea of having everything that is needed included in one kit, making life much easier for a beginner who just wants to sample needlepoint. The patterns are for a nice rectangular bookmark and two squares for mug rugs. All three are bright, colorful projects with fairly straightforward patterns. We had a challenge with the bookmark canvas, which was 46 squares by 13 squares instead of 49 squares by 13 squares as the pattern required. I adjusted the pattern a bit and was able to make it work. The instructions were very clear (including good illustrations) about how to begin and end the stitching, but they were less clear about how to do the actual stitches, such as making the flowers on the sheep pattern. As this kit is for beginners, it would be helpful to have the patterns printed in color, although the color pictures of completed projects on the cover helped us sort through the colors. The yarn was the best part of the kit! It is soft wool in beautiful, vibrant colors.

This kit would be suitable for an older child or adult who has some basic experience with needlepoint or similar crafts (such as cross stitch) or for anyone who has an experienced helper. The final products are cute and colorful, and they would be a source of pride for the crafter.

Product review by Dr. Anne Margaret Wright, Senior Product Reviewer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December 2011