We need to talk about The Russians.

"The Russians" is what I call my ever-growing hoard of Russian kits. I've never been crazy about kits, partly because the designs usually don't appeal to me, but mostly because I'm always changing fabric and thread colors and it just didn't make sense for me to buy them. I would occasionally buy one if the design really grabbed me, but it wasn't often. However, several years ago, some Russian needlework companies started popping up with US distributors, mainly Riolis and RTO, and more recently, Panna. It was the beginning of the end of my resistance to kits.

So far, I've managed to contain my madness to two main subjects: foxes (!) and Russian themes. I spent all of my college years studying Russia, Russian, and Russians, so I have a weakness for Russian themes. My hoard is growing. Now, I haven't actually stitched any of these kits yet, mind you, but I do have a plan for that. I always have a plan. But first, let's pull out all of The Russians and see what I have!

Lurking in a big box, under the sewing room chair...

First, the foxes. Riolis:

RTO:

Panna:

And not Russian, but I'm throwing it in anyway. This is by Luca-S, from Moldova, and I absolutely love it so much I can't stand it.

And in the general Russian themes category, we have these. The street scene reminds me of Sherlock Holmes.

The matryoshka on the left is one of a set of four (this one is winter). I love the Russian domestic scene on the right. It's such an unusual subject for a design; I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

Spring:

Russian woman in beautiful traditional dress.

And the jewel of my collection. It doesn't get any more Russian than this: a winter wolf hunt with Borzoi. 

This was a total heart-over-head purchase. It was ridiculously expensive (even on sale), and it's huge, but I was a goner the minute I saw it. We all love everything in our stash, and we intend to stitch everything we buy, but there are those rare projects that if you die without having stitched it, you've cheated yourself. This is one of those projects. 

So, about that plan. Since my stitching plan for this year is a smoking ruin, beyond rescue, and since I've wandered off in a completely unexpected direction and have taken on creating a Texas basket, I decided to look ahead to next year. I'm considering having a "Russian year" in 2018. Wouldn't that be cool?