I have chosen to decorate the last corner of my wool blanket with some winter greenery in recognition of the season and Christmas, and I think some holly and mistletoe is an appropriate choice.
Holly and ivy were used as traditional decorations for the home at Christmas, it was a part of my childhood, and we all loved trying to find the nicest and shapeliest sprigs of each for our Mum. I have carried this on in my own home. I don’t remember seeing any mistletoe growing in the area of my childhood home in Ireland, nor in Yorkshire, where I lived for some time, but there is an abundance of it where I now live in Herefordshire. I did try to grow some last year on the crab apple tree in the garden, but no joy from all the seeds (about 50) stuck to the branches. I may try again early next year.
The tree on the left is a large maple and you can see the ‘balls’ of mistletoe around the top very easily. The photo on the right is of a large mistletoe ‘ball’ (different tree), the berries are just about visible. Both trees in the local park.
There is a national mistletoe day, and this year it is on 7 December. Each year there is a mistletoe and holly auction in a town/rural area not far from here (Tenbury Wells), the auction dates this year are 26 November. and 3 December. A Mistletoe Festival is held each year – 7 December this year – when the druidic myths and traditions around mistletoe are celebrated.
A certain amount of mistletoe is harvested for this auction, but future harvests needs to be protected too. Many people will gather some of their local mistletoe, or buy a bunch from a garden centre. It keeps well, and I generally collect some for my home the week before Christmas
My post is due on 9 December, quite close to Christmas, and around the time when I would be out looking for some greenery to help me with my Christmas decorations. So, a timely post!
I have a holly tree in the garden with lots of berries on it this year, so it is very easy to pop outside to collect a sprig. Mistletoe grows practically on every tree here, unfortunately quite high up on the trees and therefore difficult to reach. But occasionally there will be some that is within reach to snip a piece off.
Once again, I have free machine stitched the holly sprig shape onto the wool blanket, along with the some leaf shapes. Not all holly leaves are sharp and prickly, which is lucky when trying to find a nice sprig. I have also free machine stitched the mistletoe sprig shape.
I have stitched some pre felted leaves to the blanket to add a little extra dimension. I made these some time ago, and these I have hand stitched using a blanket stitch. I compared which shade of red floss is the closest colour for the berries, and then embroidered these in place.
The colour of mistletoe berries are more like small pearls in colour and shape, quite white/opaque, and difficult to show up on the wool cloth; so I have used a pale golden colour floss to embroider these berries so that they can be seen a little easier than a white colour would be.
The blanket will need a little more work I think. I will add a decorative feature to the centre, probably a little more stitching, and then I will find a soft backing to complete, this will make it more comfortable next to the skin.