god jul

God Jul to you all!  A little Prairie Schooler beauty that’s been keeping me up at nights …

The pattern – sent to me by my lovely, lovely friend Diane – doesn’t have a name and was published in 1987!  That was a while ago.  Let me think … nope, I didn’t pick up my first cross stitch needle until two years after this, but quickly became a lover of all things Prairie Schooler.

As the critters were facing opposite directions, they just had to be stitched together – bit wistful really.  Looking longingly at each other but never able to reach each other.  The sheep – yep, it’s clearly a sheep – would just roll on past …

and the poor goat (or is it a donkey?  I don’t know – it does have a bit of a beard) would just keep lurching back and forth and back and forth.  Ah, such as life for these Christmas critters – at least they have some lovely greenery and a Swedish Christmas wish.

I added the leaves and berries – obviously – to represent the leaves and lingonberries of St. Lucia’s wreath.  I backed it with red felt, stuffed it with a lovely fat piece of wool (from the futon shop – hee! hee! hee! – what an awesome find!) and added a lovely red and white ribbon with which to hang it – the white of St. Lucia’s dress and the red of her ribbon sash.

It’s a relief to see that the Christmas spirit prevails at Bootville, even amidst the chaos of moving.  I was beginning to think it would just sneak quietly round the corner, disappear down the street, and I would miss my favourite time of year.

So there you are – God Jul!

p.s. there’s more St. Lucia goodness to come on her name day – the 13th December – when’s that (counting on my fingers) … Sunday!  That’s when I arrive in Melbourne to help Julian unpack the house.  Hmmm ….