Let's celebrate the Year of the Rooster!

Happy Chinese New Year to all.

According to the lunar calendar, on January 28th 2016, China and all Chinese communities worldwide will be celebrating the Year of the Rooster, the tenth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac signs.

A homely filled cushion (45x45 cm)
in 100% cotton, with a vibrantly embroidered
rooster as its main motif, from IAN SNOW in Devon, UK.

When looking for a rooster image to depict this auspicious occasion, we came across this lovely "Rooster" in vibrant colours depicted on a filled cushion from the UK-based business Ian Snow which sells a wide selection of home-crafted bohemian home and furnishing products.

This Rooster is created using a fine example of crewel embroidery.

Crewelwork is a type of surface free-style embroidery using wool.  Believed to be at least a thousand years old, crewelwork uses a variety of embroidery stitches such as stem stitch, chain and split stitch to outline a design, applied onto a fabric, and the design is filled with various style of embroidery such as satin or couched stitches, and sometimes seed stitches and French knots are used to add texture.

You can check out the details of the cushion on the IAN SNOW website.