Vervaco Swans Latch Hook Rug Kit, Multi-Colour

First of all, as other reviewers have pointed out, let me say this is a small rug so do please take note of the dimensions before purchasing. That said, it's also an easy size to work with on your lap and perfect if you have a small space for it in your home. I've now completed a few different rugs, with this one and the previous one both being Vervaco rugs. Both came in nice plastic zip up bags with carry handles. This rug consists of 12 different colours, hence the detail of shades on the finished item. My tip is to spend 10 mins or so before you get started working out which colour strand corresponds with the colours on the canvas as there are three different shades of blue, grey and green. Also, as already pointed out by others, one of the colours on the canvas is painted a pale pinky colour (mostly on parts of the swans), so look out for that and note that the palest grey that's closest to white should be used on the pale pink areas. To be fair the manufacturer had inserted one strand of that colour on the corresponding swatch square (bottom right of canvas) to indicate what colour should be used on those areas. I'd say this is a little more challenging than some rugs which have fewer colours or those that consist of colours that are easily distinguished from each other, but it's worth the effort. Note that you'll need reasonable light when working on it as sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between the "pink" (pale grey) areas on the canvas and white. It took me under a month to complete, with one row taking me about 45 mins to complete (if you're new to rug making it might take longer). There was plenty of wool left over after completion, which is great as invariably strands get lost when you've packed it away for the evening and you subsequently find the odd one stuck to your clothes or on the floor. Also the occasional strand gets frayed/spoilt if you don't quite pull it through properly, so it's good to have spares!I'm so pleased that I'd buy another without hesitation ... if I can find a home for it!* Also, being smaller, the price is reasonable compared to larger rugs. My photos show the completed rug (goes very nicely on a grey carpet), the rug partially complete, and just the canvas before I started. *Edit: I did subsequently buy a second one and made it for a family member, who was very pleased!Oh and I have a feeling somewhere in the Amazon description it said it was a 'cushion' rather than a rug, so don't be put off by that!PS: Be sure to order a Vervaco version, like this one, as I've since discovered there are cheaper versions of these swan rugs available (not made by Vervaco). However, the cheaper version is inferior to this Vervaco kit in several ways, including: (1) The wool is very thin and some lengths are longer than others. (2) It's not really possible to complete the cheaper rug by following the poorly printed canvas, so you have to use the supplied chart, but then it turns out there are 3 columns and 1 row less on the canvas than the chart shows, which resulted in me having to undo the first row to ensure the swans would end up central on the rug. (3) The depth of colour is poorer on the cheap version. (4) The cheap version is even smaller than the Vervaco rug. (5) The cheap version is already edged and has a backing to it, which some might see as a bonus as you don't need to sew down the edges afterwards, but the piping around the edges shows in places and on the top row was not sewn straight to the canvas so some of the squares on that row disappeared under the piping. This would mean that if you can't gently find a way of exposing the obscured squares you'd end up with either an unfinished row of canvas squares exposed at the top, which would look ugly, or a partially finished row along the top. (6) The hook was very cheap and quite flimsy but as the wool is so thin on the cheap version a heavy duty hook is not required. Overall the cheaper kit felt like a child's toy.So my recommendation is to buy this (Vervaco) version and don't be tempted to buy a cheaper version costing £20 or so. You get what you pay for!!

this rug kit is not very good value for the price paid, while the picture is very nice, the main colour which is blue for the water was not included in the kit, the light grey in the the picture is actually printed as pink,so if you are a first time rug maker you will find this very confusing, Also the kit did not come with a receipt so no information was available to contact the supplier.

I've got half way through this and I'm running out of other colours and completely out of white! Really disappointed as these are not cheap.

Good product, just finished the second one. Easy to follow pattern. Recommended.

I have really enjoyed doing this but I am at least one pack of white wool missing can you please help Heather.crump@outlook.com

beautiful design with vibrant colours. Very quick and easy to do, completed it within 2 weeks, probably due to it being smaller than I imagined, door mat size. Ample wool included, had quite a lot left over. Overall, very good value for money

Came before estimated time. Wool quality should be better if this is suppose to be a rug. Expensive for what it is

Well I was really looking forward to do this. I started it today and unfortunately I was a shade of blue missing. I have the really dark blue and the mid blue but no light blue. I cant find a way of getting in touch with the company. If anyone can help me my email address is roxconner@gmail.com