The Christmas Rose, Helleborus, or Lenten Rose isn't really a rose, as we all know. Calling it a bit lowly in comparison? Certainly not! It bravely blooms at a time when we are especially in need of reminders that Spring will come again! My Christmas Rose, a Helleborus Orientalis, is from the garden of my great-grandmother. She had a wonderful large flower garden in the 1880s. This Christmas rose has a lovely purple color and faithfully appears every year, spreading into larger and larger circles if left undisturbed. One of these days I might even find a black Christmas rose (Helleborus niger), with its fascinating dark colors!
On the spur of the purple moment I started a lace project with a lovely hand-dyed yarn from Zauberglöckchen called Filigranissimo and one can tell immediately that it lives up to its name!
As I was getting into Spring mood, I started with destashing, uncluttering, weeding out of things long kept and mostly of high sentimental value. It is hard to let go. On the other hand, as one gets older, every thing we shed is also a relief. I am keeping mental images of things for as long as I can, or even take a picture now and then. I cannot part with the paintings of my children, nor their gifts and letters. Letters are one of the most personal things in life. One of the disadvantages of e-mail, although I don't deplore the electronic communications development at all!
When I was young and the world was... well, it was different... it was half a century ago when my mother thought it quite indispensable for a gentleman to have fine linen handkerchiefs with a monogram and so she busied herself with building up a small trousseau for her son-in-law, which was actually quite forward thinking - why not a trousseau for the groom! She added monogrammed towels and shirts and linen and silver cutlery sets, and there was no doubt in her mind that throughout our entire life we would keep adding personalized items to our common household.
Our lovely Hélène, a very close friend of the family, gave birth to a healthy little boy and I could not but knit up some little gifts. Here's the Bring Me Home Hat (pattern by Melynda Bernardi)
1 comment:
Beautiful capture of spring. I love your presentation of Helleborus in lace and cables. It makes my heart sing...and dance if anyone cares to put up my silliness. The wees are so dear. The children are so blessed to have such "love" to be enveloped in. It's a wonderful glimpse of your spring, dear Ms. Laura. Here we are showering with both...spring and winter, often all on the same hour :D Life is good when we open both of our eyes to see the sweetness around us.
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