Bayeux Owls
Bayeux Stitch Owl
Originally uploaded by Ragnvaeig. I've had this project on my list for a couple years now, as I had the materials and the technique I wanted to use--just not the end product.
catlinsmusic had given risiko and me a bunch of crewel wools she'd picked up, and I knew I wanted to use them in something neat. There were short lengths of quite a few colours--not enough of even a combination of 4 colours to complete a naalbinding project, but lengths too short for card weaving, so it had to be embroidery.
Jane Stockton had made some gorgeous birds in the Bayeux style nearly 4 years ago, now. I'd thought to myself that this was a neat stitch that I'd like to try, so I knew I'd probably end up using the crewel wool for something in Bayeux stitch. I'm one of those people, though, who wants to know what I'm using the work for, so the idea languished on my project list without the impetus to start work until I knew what I'd be embroidering and why.
It turns out that our Shire needs some weights in order to keep papers from blowing away at the check-in desk for events. Embroidered bean bags might do the trick, so I poked through the illustrations I had of the Bayeux embroideries to see if there were an owl (our Shire's badge). I couldn't find one, so the project languished a little longer.
A couple months ago, I gave up and started looking around for contemporary illustrations of owls that might show me how they were depicted in the 11th and 12th centuries. I managed to find this photo of an owl carved at the Rock of Cashel, which is vaguely contemporary, and I adapted the basic details of that owl into what I hope is an appropriately "Bayeux style" and true to both originals.
The only down side is that this little guy is unbearably cute, so that I might have to keep on of these when I'm finished!
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