Swan needlepoint patterns

Swans: a swan swimming in profile, its long neck in a graceful S, and the swan of the seventh day of the carol, a crown around its neck.

The swimming swan is drawn in several styles, in some with its wing raised a little; in the folk art one, two swans face each other. All are four inches square on 18 mesh. A pale bird needs a ground with color in it, so pick the background first; the neck is a narrow curve, counted stitch by stitch.