The Kingfisher Continues

The kingfisher is proving more complex than some of the earlier animal vignettes. This is partly because the shape is complex, and partly, I think, because this is one of the elements I really want to include, so it’s hard to “play” quite so freely!

The lower stitching – part of the wings, maybe, or the tail? – is densely stitched in stranded cotton, and the head is small, tangled stitches again in stranded cotton. The original photograph that I’m using as a guide shows much smaller speckles of colour over the head, so the smaller stitches should help with that..

I’ve put a line down the beak which I need to make narrower as I stitch the rest of the beak, and I’ve started on the wing.

You can see in this close up that I’m using two strands of a variegated mercerised cotton for the wings, overlapping and tangling my Cretan Stitches to create something like the effect of the feathers. Considering that fluffy effect it has created for fur in some of the other Vignettes, I’m astonished and delighted that it’s not looking fluffy this time. The colour helps, of course, and the stitches are more closely packed, but still, I’d not realised until now just how versatile Cretan Stitch is!

I’m very pleased with progress so far. I need to find the right bright shade for that stripe down the back and the end of the tail, fit in his white collar, and the bright colour on the top of his head, and then work out how to keep the beak neat and crisp.

So far, that’s defeating me, so wish me success, please…!

---