It’s the 5th of November! Guy Fawkes Day. I hope you’re all having a blast!

Before I send you to Calmgrove for today’s #WitchWeek2023 post, another tangentially related set of books for your delectation: embroidery designs!

First up, Bulgarian National Embroidery, collected by Rossitsa Choukanova and published in Sofia, 1957, features geometric and botanical designs, but an occasional beast appears, such as these:

The combination of colors, shapes and patterns makes me want to pull out my silks and linens and start a new project.

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Next, I give you Heinz Edgar Kiewe’s Charted Folk Designs for Cross-Stitch Embroidery/From the Countries Along the Danube (1975). In this collection are scores of geometrics and botanicals, but also a large number of beasts, including ones that are specifically fantastical. The variety of patterns shows the influence of not just local tastes, but also designs borrowed from Western Asia. In the Introduction, Kiewe explains that “the migration of Islamic cross-stitch designs can be attributed to three causes, Pilgrimage, Pillage and Piracy, and to these we can add a fourth, Fascination.” Designs from Germany, Austria, Romania, Hungary, Italy and various regions of the former Yugoslavia fill this book. Three images suitable for Witch Week show peacocks, dragons, and a bird that is probably a rooster, but its dog-shaped head makes me want to call it a cockatrice.

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And finally, Kiewe’s 1964/1977 book of Charted Peasant Designs from Saxon Transylvania teems with magical beasts. I suspect that many people, when they hear “Transylvania”, think immediately of Count Dracula (tied, I hope, with Dr. Frank-N-Furter). In a helpful move, Kiewe provides this map showing migration routes for various influences on the designs. Looking at this map makes me wonder if Kiewe should, perhaps, add a fifth reason for the migration: conquest.

You can spot the Islamic, Persian and Magyar routes; reading beyond the edge of the map, there could be influences coming from even further east. But whatever the source of inspiration, these designs are glorious. In order of appearance in the gallery below, here are a dragon, two dragons at a fountain of life, a forest demon, a demon locust, and two gryphons “rampant”.

Once again, I have to fight the urge to start another sewing project. I particularly love the sense of humor that inspired someone to carefully sew a pattern of demon locusts onto her skirt. Embroidery to ward off evil!

All these designs should have put you in the mood for today’s Witch Week post, by Ola and Piotrek (of Re-Enchantment of the World), in which they examine mythical beasts in Slavic tales, with a particular focus on Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher series. You’ll find it here. Enjoy!