earnscraft
are husband and wife team David and Ann Thorpe working from both Kirriemuir
and Charleston Village in the county of Angus, which is about half way
up the east coast (right hand side) of Scotland. We take our name from
The Mearns, an area of land stretching from Stonehaven (just south of
Aberdeen) down to Montrose, where we once had a needlecraft shop. We
brought out our first kit in 1993 and now produce a wide range of kits
and charts, all, without exception, devoted to Scottish subjects.
SCOTTISH
MAPS: We're
probably best known for our highly detailed counted cross stitch
maps of Scottish Islands, the Old Scottish Counties, and two
of our Cities. We find that these kits appeal to local
people and exiled Scots alike. For people living outwith
Scotland, a stitched Mearnscraft map provides a beautiful link
with their ancestral homeland and Scots heritage, and we are
more than happy to answer queries from stitchers as to which
of our maps is most appropriate for their family name.
The maps aren't only beautiful, they're also remarkably accurate
- we always visit the relevant area before starting on a new
design and will invariably visit and photograph the buildings
shown on it.
To
have a look at the maps, just follow the link to Mapsand take it from there, or go toThe
Mearnscraft Mapand choose your area.
We've written a little historical bit (and the occasional
story) about each county, city or island as well so you might
find it interesting even if you're not a great stitcher!
We're especially proud of our giant,
34 inch high cross-stitch map of Scotland itself. 36 colours,
40 buildings, 100+ rivers, Saltire, Thistle, and Lion Rampant
- We really think you should have a look at it! Go
to Map of Scotland
SCOTLAND
SAMPLER: We initially designed this
kit as a Scottish Millennium Sampler, but now that the Millenium
celebrations are over we've included a number of alternative phrases
for the centre Panel, eg "History of a Nation", "Nemo
Me Impune Lacessit", and several others. We like to think of
this design as a Celebration in Counted Threadwork of 1000 years
of Scottish history.
Framed by the Thistles, Saltire and Lion Rampant of Scotland the
sampler is divided into 10 sections, each of which represents a
century and take us from the Celtic Church of the 11th century to
Scotland's new Parliament of 1999. Go
to The Scotland Sampler
SCOTTISH
THEME KITS: You'll find a variety of needlecraft kits
under this heading - indeed, most of our kits can probably be described
as Scottish theme. For example, there'sThe
Arbroath Declaration, Scotland's famous statement
of independence,sealed at Arbroath
Abbey in 1320: "For
so long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will yield in no least
way to English dominion. For we fight, not for glory nor for riches
nor for honour, but only and alone for freedom, which no good man
surrenders but with his life". We currently do two different
Declaration kits, one for Aida and one for evenweave.
HAMISH
HAGGIS: He's
funny, he's cute, and he's Scottish! He's Hamish Haggis, and
you can stitch him doing a lot of typically Scottish things.
Being a patriotic haggis, he likes waving the Scottish flag ("The
Saltire") and you can see him doing that at the top of this
page. As you can see from the kit on the right he also likes
playing the pipes, and if you go to Hamish's page you'll find him
also playing golf, going fishing, and giving you a big haggisy Hello!
Also on Hamish's page you'll find Nessie,
taking a short break from Loch Ness. Go
to Hamish Haggis
e
think that when you buy a kit, you'll want to start stitching it as soon
as possible - you don't want to spend the first few hours sorting through
a bundle of threads. You want top quality material, and enough of
it so that there's a generous border all the way round. You want
cotton/floss made by a top company and ideally you'd like it to be identified
by the manufacturer's own number. And you want clear, helpful charts.
We like to think that you get all that and more with Mearnscraft kits.
The fabric we use is always genuine Zweigart, and unless stated otherwise
the kits (including all the maps) are stitched on 27-count ivory Linda
evenweave. Hamish Haggis kits use 14-count cream Aida.
We give plenty of material - the maps, for example, have no less than
3 inches spare on each side and at top and bottom. Unless otherwise
stated, all our kits are supplied with Anchor stranded embroidery cottons/floss,
ready sorted on an organiser and identified by both a name and the manufacturer's
number. Our instructions are comprehensive and we pride ourselves
on our particularly detailed charts, which include enlarged charts of
buildings and crests.
IT
or CHART? In
response to demand, we now sell many of our larger designs as Kits or
as Chart Packs. If you buy a kit you'll get all the charts and instructions
plus material, sorted and organised Anchor threads (and some of our kits
use over 30 shades) and a needle (usually gold plated).If you buy a chgartpack, you just
get the charts, a copy of the Mearnscraft Stitch Guide, and a conversion
chart in case you want to use DMC threads rather than Anchor. Remember
- if you buy the kit, you don't need a chartpack as well!
earnscraft
are husband and wife team David and Ann Thorpe working from both Kirriemuir
and Charleston Village in the county of Angus, which is about half way
up the east coast (right hand side) of Scotland. We take our name from
The Mearns, an area of land stretching from Stonehaven (just south of
Aberdeen) down to Montrose, where we once had a needlecraft shop. We
brought out our first kit in 1993 and now produce a wide range of kits
and charts, all, without exception, devoted to Scottish subjects.
SCOTTISH
MAPS: We're
probably best known for our highly detailed counted cross stitch
maps of Scottish Islands, the Old Scottish Counties, and two
of our Cities. We find that these kits appeal to local
people and exiled Scots alike. For people living outwith
Scotland, a stitched Mearnscraft map provides a beautiful link
with their ancestral homeland and Scots heritage, and we are
more than happy to answer queries from stitchers as to which
of our maps is most appropriate for their family name.
The maps aren't only beautiful, they're also remarkably accurate
- we always visit the relevant area before starting on a new
design and will invariably visit and photograph the buildings
shown on it.
To
have a look at the maps, just follow the link to 
SCOTLAND
SAMPLER: We initially designed this
kit as a Scottish Millennium Sampler, but now that the Millenium
celebrations are over we've included a number of alternative phrases
for the centre Panel, eg "History of a Nation", "Nemo
Me Impune Lacessit", and several others. We like to think of
this design as a Celebration in Counted Threadwork of 1000 years
of Scottish history.
Framed by the Thistles, Saltire and Lion Rampant of Scotland the
sampler is divided into 10 sections, each of which represents a
century and take us from the Celtic Church of the 11th century to
Scotland's new Parliament of 1999. 
SCOTTISH
THEME KITS: You'll find a variety of needlecraft kits
under this heading - indeed, most of our kits can probably be described
as Scottish theme. For example, there's 
HAMISH
HAGGIS: He's
funny, he's cute, and he's Scottish! He's Hamish Haggis, and
you can stitch him doing a lot of typically Scottish things.
Being a patriotic haggis, he likes waving the Scottish flag ("The
Saltire") and you can see him doing that at the top of this
page. As you can see from the kit on the right he also likes
playing the pipes, and if you go to Hamish's page you'll find him
also playing golf, going fishing, and giving you a big haggisy Hello!
Also on Hamish's page you'll find Nessie,
taking a short break from Loch Ness. 
e
think that when you buy a kit, you'll want to start stitching it as soon
as possible - you don't want to spend the first few hours sorting through
a bundle of threads. You want top quality material, and enough of
it so that there's a generous border all the way round. You want
cotton/floss made by a top company and ideally you'd like it to be identified
by the manufacturer's own number. And you want clear, helpful charts.
We like to think that you get all that and more with Mearnscraft kits.
The fabric we use is always genuine Zweigart, and unless stated otherwise
the kits (including all the maps) are stitched on 27-count ivory Linda
evenweave. Hamish Haggis kits use 14-count cream Aida.
We give plenty of material - the maps, for example, have no less than
3 inches spare on each side and at top and bottom. Unless otherwise
stated, all our kits are supplied with Anchor stranded embroidery cottons/floss,
ready sorted on an organiser and identified by both a name and the manufacturer's
number. Our instructions are comprehensive and we pride ourselves
on our particularly detailed charts, which include enlarged charts of
buildings and crests.
IT
or CHART? In
response to demand, we now sell many of our larger designs as Kits or
as Chart Packs. If you buy a kit you'll get all the charts and instructions
plus material, sorted and organised Anchor threads (and some of our kits
use over 30 shades) and a needle (usually gold plated).
If you buy a chgartpack, you just
get the charts, a copy of the Mearnscraft Stitch Guide, and a conversion
chart in case you want to use DMC threads rather than Anchor. Remember
- if you buy the kit, you don't need a chartpack as well!
