Separating colors?

[kouneli]

So I'm getting started on sorting colors for my next project. It's a kit that has approximately 30 colors, many of which are very similar. It does say how many strands there are of each color, but it doesn't help when "light brown" and "tan" both have 3 strands. And that's how it is for most of the similar colors. The picture isn't of much help since the stitches look TINY in that picture, and from past experience with the company (Bucilla), the picture doesn't represent the colors very well.
Sometimes colors that LOOK the same, really aren't, and I end up with an amount less than the number of colors listed, or more strands than listed for that color.

Any clue on how I can properly separate these colors?

--Reason why I love Dimensions so much better lol. They have them already separated (these days anyway).

[Reta]

Lay them all out on a white surface

Then get the pattern and see what colour Light Brown and Tan refer to

Or down load a colour chart to see if that helps

[Rose]

White or very light grey tablecloth and sit at a table in direct sunlight. It may take a bit of time but you can usually get the colors sorted that way then you just have to estimate which should be light brown and which one is tan if you have the same amount of strands for each and if they are that close in color it should not matter which one you choose for which symbol.

[MaggieM1750]

...estimate which should be light brown and which one is tan if you have the same amount of strands for each and if they are that close in color it should not matter which one you choose for which symbol.

Thats what I've done as well. If I can't tell which one is which when separating colors, I won't be able to tell if I've picked the right (or wrong) one when stitching.

I'll also look at what Medium Brown, or Dark Tan looks like, and try and judge which one "fits" tonally into that color family. If I still can't tell.. well then back to what Rose suggested- pick one because they are so close it won't matter.

Good Luck

[kouneli]

Thanks everyone. SOMEHOW I got them all sorted. There were a few that looked different (such as the khaki brown), but I didn't have 16 strands of it, and I had one "extra" color lol. So apparently the batch must've been different. Also HATE it when there are knots joining pieces of strands. As in, that's where they joined the thread in order to get that length of strand. So to save money, they didn't scrap the abnormal length, and instead just joined them to make one length. Now I have to cut around it.

Definitely NOT buying Bucilla brand again lol. Granted, the pieces look nice when completed, but with difficult sorting, too many mistakes in the chart, and WAY too many 1/4, 3/4 and backstitching...not worth it lol.

After these two Bucilla, I'll be starting my first HAED

[annastasia76]

I had one that had about 30 different colors of brown (or maybe it seemed that way) the only way I could get it sorted was to go online, find the DMC equivalent numbers then compare the threads from my kit with DMC