Donna Kooler's 555 Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs

Donna Kooler enthusiasts have more reason to rejoice at Christmas with this extensive selection of holiday cross-stitch designs. Her Santas are especially charming; she manages to cram into a miniscule amount of space a sprightly collection of varied St. Nicks. The "Nature Christmas" chapter is also quite agreeable, with well-rendered animals and even some touches of humor (a turtle with a Christmas tree atop its shell; a tiny ant struggling to carry a mighty candy cane). It's too bad so few of these many designs are photographed in finished form; the only completed stitchery shown are the samplers at the beginning of each of the five chapters. Though all the motifs are carefully charted in color, busy holiday crafters generally appreciate being able to see at a glance exactly how they stitch up before making a choice about what to spend time on. But any cross-stitcher who enjoys Donna's work probably can't go too far wrong with any of them. --Amy Handy