Cross Stitch Kit "Bees"

“Bees” is a graphic flower head worked in black thread with two bees on it.

What the picture shows

The whole inflorescence — a globe of dozens of small blossoms on thin stalks — is drawn in outline only, in dark thread with no fills, and the stem runs down as a single line. The one piece of colour is the bees themselves: ginger, black and gold stripes worked in Preciosa beads and metallic thread. The white canvas is not covered at all, so the design reads like a pen drawing on paper. Twelve floss colours, 19 m of thread. The black outline does the job of the drawing here rather than merely edging it: without it there would be no composition at all.

What is in the kit

• Aida canvas, count 14, white
• Cotton floss, 12 colours, 19 m
• Tapestry needle
• Czech Preciosa seed beads No. 10 and a beading needle
• Embroidery hoop, 170 mm diameter, light green
• Decorative metallic threads
• Symbol chart
• Step-by-step instructions

Specifications

• Design size: 150×150 mm (5.91×5.91 in)
• Base: Aida canvas, count 14, white
• Floss colours: 12
• Floss length: 19 m
• Difficulty: simple
• Technique: counted cross stitch

A 150×150 mm miniature, rated simple but full of small outline stitches. Graphic work like this looks best under glass in a slim frame — all chosen separately, as none of it is in the kit. Outline work goes more slowly than solid fills, so those 19 m of thread stretch over several evenings.