<whispers> Anyone else do puzzles?

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, this is very sad, but it seems I have become addicted or something to puzzles. I bought a couple for DH for Xmas, and I have probably spent more time on them than he is.

Yes, sad sad, much more embarassing than my normal hip + cool hobby of ... knitting.

Anyway, yeah. It was hard to find puzzles that didn't make my eyes bleed. (Kincade. Lovely!)

I bought a Brunel one by Gibson's, and an Escher one by Selegiochi. The Brunel one was easy, and also good quality. The Escher one is eye-bleedingly hard (without being one of those lame "big pile of smarties" hard ones), and also poor quality.

So I was wondering what brands were good? Namechangers welcome, if the shame is too much for you ...

oh yes, I love puzzles. My mum always has a christmas puzzle lol
I prefer ones that are photographs, rather than paintings iyswim?

Message withdrawn

DH is in the dining room doing a puzzle right now, I like them too - very therapeutic! Have you ever done any online? Jigzone are good.

falcon and ravensburger are good makes.
go to charity shops, they usually have loads in

love wasgij's, the puzzle is not of the picture on the box but the same picture from the viewpoint of someone in it, very interesting! I did 3 of them whilst on mat leave waiting for my 2 week late DS!

Oh, Pruni, we bought DS2 another Peppa Pig DVD for Xmas. He continues to be obsessed. Do I have your postal address? (It's the one with the treasure hunt in it. I forget the name on the box.)

Yes, I mean jigsaws. This escher one is kicking my ass, though, there are large amounts of grey. Completely indistinguishable. And the puzzle quality is a bit crap, so I cannot get the edge working properly, as there are often several pieces that fit in a place .

I should maybe try photographs. I don't want the scary ones that are meant for Daily Mail readers (I love the countryside, blah blah blah). And some of the art makes my eyes bleed. I think I might give in and go for those naff Europeanesque cartoons with the silly people, as at least it'd be easier than this bloody Escher.

Melrose, I think I saw wasgij's while shopping, but didn't end up going for it.

Actually, I ended up ordering them online, from a shop in Greenwich (not far at all from me) so I might just try visiting them, as they were quick and competant, and obviously have about 7 billion of them.

Do Falcon and Ravenburger make the big 1000 piece jigsaws?

Message withdrawn

This one is the one I'm doing. I think if the jigsaw was good quality, it would be ok. But as it's not (thin cardboard, etc etc), it is very annoying.

Oooh, I have found a 13,200 piece puzzle, on sale! It's 3 metres wide! And the same shop can get in 18,000 piece puzzles.

DH is being ... unimpressed ... with the idea.

Hmm, and now I'm admiring this one. Well, I like the image, but it seems unfeasably cheap, so I'm worried about the quality of the cardboard etc.

Another reason why I think this Escher one sucks - all the pieces are the same shape, with two out and two in, iyswim. They're not all exactly the same shape, but still ... gah.