I’m a little bit behind with work-in-progress embroidery projects. The shop launch of one week ago went super well and I’ve been catching up with sending out orders and one thing or another. But I have had this little fellow in my mind for a while.

Animal friends are very popular. Deservedly so. But I am a bit funny about little animal thingies. Foxes and Wolves, YES; Puppies and Ponies, NO…in a figurative art sense (not that I don’t fawn over them in a real life sense). In a similar way Bunnies do not capture me, but Hares are another matter. Elusive, mysterious, swathed in folklore. They have a power and a magic.

Framing up my latest batch of new and repeat designs, I found several Hare motifs and went with one based on medieval heraldry. In approaching this piece I realised that, in my beloved split stitch using just one fine strand of cotton gives a much finer finish.

In some of my other pieces, like some of the skulls, I used 2 strands, which certainly does make it easier to split the ply, and the thickness makes it stitch up quicker of course. But using just one strand means you are much more diligent about making each tiny stitch more and yet more accurate. At this stage in my work, I find I have gained the patience (hard won from my lazy self) and intention to prefer this, and reminded of these words that have been rattling around my brain for a while, like a mantra:

  “from the moment they wake, they dedicate themselves to the absolute perfection of everything they do”

Not that I will ever claim perfection, but I do feel this might be the most technically accomplished piece I have done in cotton miniatures to date.

He will be mounted into a large oval pendant setting, and go into my shop at some point. I am very pleased with him.