The More-Than-12-Days-of-Christmas-Present

So I was going to make a Christmas present for my Godmother. It was the beginning of summer, I have MONTHS, right? No problem!

First, the design. Since I had a time limit and I know I stitch slowly - and get distracted easily - I decided to keep it simpler. I chose a couple of wide band patterns for blackwork, a narrow one for the assisi, charted, cut and hemmed my linen, tested the stitches (all this is pretty much a repeat of the first, so I won't make you look at those pictures again!) and I was ready to roll.

This time I made sure the design and my linen would fit my favorite scrolling frame - made stitching a good bit quicker than trying to work in that blasted hoop! Here you see the work at about 15 hours of stitching. The bottom band is adapted from "New Carolingian" (hope Kim can republish that some day; my copy's getting raggedy!); the narrow red band is a border pattern. The top band you see here is an original adaption of a traditional cross-stitch pattern to blackwork.

Here's a detail of one end - this was about 30 hours of stitching, and it would have been nice if I'd thought to take out my center marking thread before taking the picture! Still, I was very happy with the balance of the design - I think it's elegant...

Thank goodness I started early, and kept to a simple design. I had some health issues that kept me from stitching for several weeks, and bottle-raised some orphan kittens, and with ont thing and another Christmas was upon me by the time I was working the last band of the other end of the rushnyk.

Now the problem was the finishing touch. I had planned a crochetted filet lace border, but when it came time I couldn't find a matching thread anywhere. While I was looking (when I get an idea in my head, it's hard to let go of it) the Feast of the Nativity came and went, and we were well into the 12 Days... finally I decided I wasn't going to find what I wanted and changed the plan. I had a stash of cream-colored silk floss, and I spent 3 evenings cutting and hand-knotting fringe over the rolled hems -

And I didn't quite make it for Theophany (12th Night), but finally the following Sunday I was able to give my Godmother her "Christmas" present...

Here you see it as it would be used in a home, coincidentally on the icon of the Theotokos my Godmother gave me LAST Christmas!