Pysanky Cross Stitch

I cross stitched this pysanky - Polish or Ukrainian Easter egg - for M's Bapchi last Easter.  However, I accidentally erased all my pictures before backing them up or blogging about them. This Easter we visited with Bapchi and I was able to take a new picture.

For decades M's Bapchi cross stitched Ukrainian items, including doilies, table runners, pillows, even veils for brides.  Our house is decorated with all her beautiful Ukrainian cross stitch doilies and pillows.  When M's parents visited us for the first time, they took pictures of all her handiwork to show Bapchi that we really are using her gifts. 

Now she no longer sits and stitches - a craft that both her and I find very meditative - because she has difficulty seeing the small stitches and cloth.  Last year when we visited Bapchi,  she graciously gave me a bagful of her threads and cloths.   As a small token of my appreciation, I stitched this Easter pysanky for her.  This 3" egg took me almost 30 hours, so I now have a better appreciation for all her embroidery. 

The pysanky pattern was from the Cross-Stitch Plus, March 1992.  An oldie, but goodie my Mom let me borrow. 

Pysanky Part 2

Pysanky from previous years

Happy Easter!  Below are some pysanky, Polish Easter eggs, I decorated this week for Easter.  It is a Polish Easter tradition to decorate eggs with bee's wax and dye.  However, I was disappointed that after laboring over these eggs the color did not stick. 

Today at church I spoke to other pysanky decorators and learned that: 1.) Dziadziu and I might need newer dye and 2.) we should wash the eggs with vinegar before applying the wax designs.  Next time I am willing to try farm-fresh eggs instead of store-bought ones because all the finished eggs had two-rings around them.

Pysanky Part 1

Today Dziadziu and I began working on our pysanky, or Polish Easter eggs.  To design our eggs, we carefully dip the head of a sewing pin into hot bee's wax.  We let the wax dry and harden.  In the upcoming days we will dye the eggs in various colors and then put the eggs into a warm oven to remove the wax.  Finally we will wipe the eggs with an old towel to remove any excess wax. 

Dziadziu has been making pysanky for decades and I have only dabbled in it for the past few years.  It is unclear if Dziadziu's mother - my great grandmother - learned this Easter tradition in her village in Poland or here in the US. 

The above photo shows Dziadziu's eggs from previous years.