Whilst browsing in Ely a few weeks ago, I came across a magazine which I had never bought before. It was Mary Hickmott's New Stitches. A design really caught my eye and I couldn't resist buying the magazine. The design was six different versions of a cute blackwork elephant, stitched in variagated thread.
I immediately began to stitch one, using threads from my stash. I found some ivory 14 count aida, which I had bought at a Christmas Fair at Wimpole Hall. I dug deep in my thread box and found some gorgeous thread I had bought from Stef Francis some time ago. I added some gold thread and beads to embellish and was really pleased with the result.
I have now stitched several and some have already found new homes. One has gone to my Aunt and Uncle, who are both textilephiles (they have made the most beautiful cross stitch and blackwork pictures) and one is going to a friend, (also a textilephile) to decorate her new bedroom. Pictured is perhaps the matriarch of the herd, the first one I made. But I see more elephants coming over the horizon very soon....
