a gift for you this weekend
2011
That is, a give away for everyone!
Abby’s been home with a cold for the last two days and we’ve been indulging in our favourite cosy pursuits – drawing, stitching, watching Agatha Christie films, Stardust & Princess Bride (they always go together) and reading.
One of the books we rediscovered was Ursula Le Guin’s A Ride on the Red Mare’s Back - so spooky and enchanting. With beautiful illustrations and a hefty dose of Swedish folklore. Which inspired a new cross stitch – The Red Mare.
If you have not had the delight of reading Ms. Le Guin’s wonderful tale, you may have met the Red Mare (or Dala Horse) at Ikea! We look at the large – are they papier mache or wooden? – statues positioned around the store each time we visit and wonder whether we could charm a sales assistant into letting us squish one into our handbag – ’cause they never have them for sale!
So here you are … for all you Red Mare / Dala Horse lovers … The Red Mare cross stitch with a pretty nordic border and flowers. I have included the instructions I put in with my other designs (available here) for those of you that haven’t tried cross stitch before but would love to give it a go. It’s very simple and once you start, so very hard to stop!
Click on the red link below to download your PDF …
The Red Mare Cross Stitch Pattern and Instructions
I’m busy stitching mine up this evening – I’m half way through the mare’s body – and plan to applique it onto a denim tote I would like to sew up this weekend – it’s been on the drawing board for months and I’m hopeful that this sweet embroidery will be the kick in the butt I need to get sewing.
I also think it would look lovely as a needlepoint stuffed toy. Abby wanted me to do that this afternoon but I had no red embroidery wool in the book box size box I have full of embroidery wool – every shade of blue and brown and green you could imagine with the odd skein of ecru and pink floating about but no crisp, fire engine red. How could that be? Hmm … that just means a trip to the embroidery store. What a shame :-)
If you have any questions, please email me. And please remember, this is an original cross stitch pattern and I would ask that you do not sell the pattern or any finished cross stitches you make. Thanks :-)
I do wish you a lovely weekend and many hours of cosy stitching!
8 comments
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hello Lily, thank you for that dear little horse pattern. I will be stitching next as soon as I finish the whale and her girl which I am getting on with. Your designs are lovely. best wishes Gina
Aren’t you sweet to give this away! Being half Norwegian, Nordic designs always appeal to me! I’ve done very little cross-stitch in my life, but I do love handwork- so I will give it a try! Thanks you!
Thank you !!
I’ll be giving it a go :)
Hmmm… I have some red velveteen and found a lot of Appletons wools at the op-shop a while back… I can see a little red horse on the shelf above my desk….Thank you, she’s lovely!
Hi Lily and Abby,
You are most generous. Love it but just haven’t got time to start something new. However this will be stored in my to do box. Hope you feeling tickityboo real soon Abby. Too nice a day to be feeling off colour..
Blessings Gail
Congratulations on this new venture! You are so talented! All your designs are great and the instructions and pattern so informative! You never know, I might even take up cross stitch just for fun. Well done…
Thanks for sharing the pattern. It’s been a long while since I’ve done any cross stitch, and your little horse may be the project to get me back to it. One benefit of the computer age – I can enlarge the pattern on my laptop – so I can easily see the little boxes.
Best of luck with your Pint of Cream, your midwife schooling, and everything you do.
Wow Lily this is fantastic. Boy do I know that book by Ursula Le Guin. It’s one of my favorites. Now for a confession. Professor Le Guin was my english professor when I was at University.
It’s so wonderful coming back from my summer blogging break to find all of these lovely cross stitch. It’s a real treasure trove. I’m starting with the Dala Horse and working my way through the collection. They’re just charming. Hope all is well Lily.