A new Autumnal pattern release

October - He won't stop
(authors note: this can be rapped)

Jack will advance now
Secretly at night,
Tickling your pipes
With his wintry might.

Silent, surprising,
Unasked, he will come
To your sweet peas and veg plot,
Dismissing the sun.

Shocked now you look
At your withered pile of green,
It's all over now
Not a tattie or a bean

Is left for the soup pot
It's time to retire,
To the hearth, to the stitching,
The the comforting fire.

anon.


Okay, a stitch for the season!  I took leave of my senses and didn't include a single pumpkin or gourd, instead, shaggy ink cap mushrooms and spiders' webs appear in corners.  The central flowers are a more classic embroidery motif, the big 'O' for old was influenced by lettering on illustrated manuscripts which continue to inspire.  The British Library has several virtual tours of manuscripts through the ages, lots of lush pictures to admire which you can keep clicking on to get an amazing close up as if your nose was inches from the pages.  Here's a couple of examples:

Breviary of Renaud de Bar. France (Verdun), c.1303

Industrious bees, doves nesting in a perindens tree (medieval peacock) while a dragon waits below, and a snake and a dragon, England,13th century. I like how the dragon lies diagonally on the page, extending out of his box.

Industrious bees, doves nesting in a perindens tree (medieval peacock) while a dragon waits below, and a snake and a dragon, England,13th century.

I like how the dragon lies diagonally on the page, extending out of his box.

 

I like how the dragon lies diagonally on the page, extending out of his box.

Many of the images seem to have things attacking one another, it's a bit odd to me, but if I saw that image in the 13th Century I may have understood completely.  I can't imagine never reading a word my entire life, which is how the bulk of the population lived in those times.  These hand written scripts were the only written word available, and they were mainly written in Latin and tucked away in a monastery for the few to behold.

Onward to the stitching!

I had a bit of fun with the cobwebs...

Blackwork inspired 'florets' (I'm making that word up) appear beside the fading blooms...

A little spider appears at bottom right, he's not a biter, you'll be safe...

A fancy letter 'O'...

Available now for stitching, the shop is always open :-)