Seuraavassa kootut selitykset huonoon menestykseeni ristipisto-olympialaisissa... ;-)So, here are the explanations for not reaching more goals in the Chatelaine Stitching Olympics... :-)
During the Olympics I stitched this card for my mother's birthday. It was a free kit with, um, Quick and Easy Stitch and Craft magazine, I think.
I also stitched a card for another uncle who turned 70. I had planned to stitch a small, simple design, but my plans changed as I learned what my father and another uncle were planning to give their brother as a birthday gift.
See, my uncle lives by a small lake. A swan family has nested there this summer and he has followed their lives closely all summer. Our summer cottage is by the same lake, and the swans come often to feed and wash up near there.
So, my father and uncle decided to give my another uncle a swan as a gift :-) Isn't he (she?) gorgeous:
It is so very skillfully carved out of a big chunk of wood, by a very skillful craftsman, who has made such animals quite a lot. In fact, my father has received an Eagle Owl from his brothers a few years ago, and we gave a Capercaillie to one of my cousins a couple of years back...
So I wanted the card to reflect the gift, and found this design in a Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine. I had to make changes to the beak, as the design was of a mute swan (
Cygnus olor, kyhmyjoutsen), and the ones on the lake are whooper swans (
Cygnus cygnus, laulujoutsen). Because of lack of time, I only stitched the swan, and left the bulrush and water lilies out. I quite like how it turned out, a cheerful chubby-cheeked bird :-)
