Jigsaw Puzzles

[Hermitreader]

In the last few years, since Lockdown actually, I have really got into doing jigsaw puzzles. I have even been given a proper board I can save them on whilst working on one. I've found a cheapy shop where I can buy a 500 piece puzzle for £6 so no great outlay. All happy until I mentioned my hobby to someone from a group I go to and she looked at me with a look of barely concealed contempt, and muttered something about 'all right for oldies'. The thing is I'm only 59, work part time because I looked after my mum until she died and can afford to do so. Is doing jigsaws a sign that I'm getting old before my time? I thought it was good for manual dexterity and keeping brain active but her comment has unnerved me a bit.

omg... what have you done to me?? I've just lost an hour 😮

Has anyone got any jigsaw tips? I’m working on a 1000 piece one. I’ve done the edges and I’m dividing up the pieces into different colours/characters, but I’m still painfully slow!

Done them all my life.

Your group 'friend' sounds like a patronising cow. Find out one of her hobbies then laugh and say 'Really? I'd find that boring'.

@saturnspinkhoop while you're dividing up by colour/texture, keep an eye out for any bits that have particularly distinctive bits on them. Text, faces, flowers, distinctive patterns etc. Basically anything that stands out from the bulk of the pieces and that can be used to start putting some parts down.

Enjoy your jigsaws and get this spiteful fecker out your life. I’ve recently taken up jigsaws. Was slightly over ambitious with a 300 piece. Have now realised I’m more of a 50 piecer at the moment!! It’s soothing and absorbing though. Some people don’t like to hear of how others enjoy life.

I find 500 piece ones better than 1000 piece partly because a curious and helpful (she thinks) young cat is easier to keep at bay with a smaller puzzle. I also love those Wentworth ones with the very odd shaped pieces, but can't afford them. A few years ago the man who delivers bread to the village shop gave me two of the big wooden trays it comes on - they're perfect.

Thank you @HowardTJMoon. I’ll give that a go.

I highly recommend jigsaw puzzle mats for those who are short on space. I’ve got one that rolls up and it’s very good.

Cats and jigsaw puzzles don't mix, do they?!

We have four felines, and one thing I've found useful is a large bath mat with a non-slip underside. I lay it on top of the puzzle on the table when I'm not doing it, and the cats can happily lounge on top without making a mess.

I do all the edges, then work from a part that's easily identifiable. I never sort into colours. I just sort of work outwards from whatever part I've started.

I like all sorts of puzzles, but particularly ones that are very detailed scenes of rooms/shops/libraries/bookshelves. Or flowers!

We love jigsaws. In our fifties now but have been doing them for decades.

I like the jeopardy of a charity shop find. There's a point in every jigsaw where I start accusing it of having pieces missing. With a charity shop find that could actually be the case (it never is).

Had a brilliant advent calendar jigsaw last year.

I am slow I think but that is also part of the pleasure. Where is the rush unless you need the table back?

Oh my god!! How did I not know this was a thing?! Off to Google and hopefully join

My lovely daughter made me a jigsaw advent calender last year, each parcel had a chocolate in too 😍

What is the picture as that decides how to sort . Not sure if anyone has mentioned them but we also have puzzle sorting trays to keep the bits separated .

My DIL loves jigsaws and she's under 40.

Ignore the nastiness!

I love jigsaws. I have loads and keep getting presents of them. I did a few in my 20s but made a real hobby in my 30s. I'm 47 now. Not old yet!

I lost my dining table during lockdown as it was replaced by a desk so I could work from home so have no where to do jigsaw puzzles anymore. If anyone knows of a good online one please let me know!

There are a lot in this catalogue - go into explore and look for something you like. Lots of vintage travel posters and magazine covers if you like graphic stuff, plenty of gardens and cats and dogs. I seem to be doing a lot of buildings and scenery at the moment. Once you have chosen an image you can adjust the number of pieces - I tend to play it safe around the 100 mark, for the sake of my poor old eyes because I use my laptop - a big screen would be different. You can search specifically for ones with the piece orientation rotated or not, you can adjust the background colour, see the image, see a 'ghost' image.

Endless hours of therapeutic fun.

www.jigsawplanet.com/

Love jigsaws (I'm 38)! As does my daughter (14)

A few years ago when DC were in baby swimming we discovered about 60% of the parents liked jigsaws. We were in our 30’s at the time!

Ypur friend is very rude!

I love a jigsaw (and am a prolific poster on the Jigsaw thread linked upthread).
I prefer cartoon jigsaws with comic scenes, I like Mike Jupp's "I love ..." series at the moment, lots of detail to notice while building.
If a charity shop jigsaw is missing a piece I usually recycle it when finished to remove it from the jigsaw gene pool (unless it's a nice enough jigsaw to warrant me making a replacement piece).
Wentworth jigsaws are brilliant, but expensive, I have a load from my grandmother.
Now the DCs have left home I have a room to store jigsaws and my own art studio to build jigsaws in. I lay a huge whiteboard on the spare bed for jigsaws up to 3000 pieces. Haven't tackled anything larger than 3000 though.

I’m in my 30’s and there are few more relaxing things for me on a wet Sunday afternoon than getting stuck into a jigsaw 😂
if’s a really therapeutic mindful activity. Dd (20) also often joins me, she’s very helpful and good at them, her brain works in a different way to mine and she tackles the really hard bits! Kind of miss it when she’s not around 😂

I’m mid 40s and have done a 1000 piece Christmas jigsaw every December for a few years now; I’ll spend a bit of time doing it in the evenings when the DC are in bed, and have a puzzle case so it can be stored away from the cat! I gave up on it halfway through last Christmas though (Ravensburger’s Santa’s toy workshop) so it’ll have to come back out this year! I’m mainly into cross stitch.

I’m really enjoying seeing all of your puzzles.

@Hermitreader i hope you can see the outpouring of love for jigsaws you have ignited 😊I started a new one at the weekend and ordered another one after a picture in the other thread linked.

Charity shops are your friend for jigsaw puzzles. I volunteer in one and keep my mum supplied with puzzles at £3 a time on a rotating basis - when she's finished, I donate them back. There are so many lovely puzzles out there, mum is quire fussy and doesn't like anything twee like frolicking kittens, or the Thomas Kinkade style paintings, or Wasjigs, and 1000 pieces only.