Most cross stitch kits arrive as half a proposition: a chart, some floss, and a quiet shopping list for everything else. This one does not. The pickle jar kit brings cotton aida fabric, embroidery thread, a needle, wadding, a full color chart, and a glue-free backing disc, all sized to the 4.25 inch, 11 cm wooden hoop that becomes the frame the moment you finish. Nothing to source, nothing to buy twice.
The design is a jar of pickles, which is a genuinely funny thing to hang in a kitchen and a very good gift for the friend who orders extra on the side. It is worked as a counted cross stitch kit rather than a pre-printed one, so you read the chart and count the holes, which is the format most people mean when they search for a beginner cross stitch kit. At hoop scale it is a mini cross stitch kit you can actually finish, unlike the embroidery kit currently in the back of your closet.
How do you frame a finished cross stitch? Finished cross stitch is most often displayed in the embroidery hoop it was stitched in, with the surplus fabric gathered behind the work and covered by a felt or card backing disc, or else mounted flat inside a picture frame. Hoop finishing needs no glue when a backing disc is used, because the hoop's screw closure alone holds the fabric taut.
