(originally published 11th October 2014)
'Oh, there's no place like Home, for the Holidays'...
Shall I let you know a little-known fact? That song, most famously sung by Perry Como in 1954 was actually about Thanksgiving! Okay, that's the end-of-November holiday Stateside, but in Canada, it falls on the 2nd Monday in October. Growing up, I remember we would have the Friday and Monday off, so wahey, long weekend!
Autumn in Ontario
The Thanksgiving feast is pretty much the same as the Christmas one, just swap out the dark fruit pudding for pumpkin pie. There's a lot of food, but no gifts. I prefer it to Christmas to be honest - just food, friends and fun and counting our many blessings.
What a glorious sight, even before the food!
The closest thing to Thanksgiving here in England in the Harvest Festival, which is celebrated widely in Church and is traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon, the full moon around the time of the Autumn Equinox in September.
Not just your average pumpkin pie...
In the past, I've used the Thanksgiving holiday as a starter's pistol for Christmas crafting - even now I get that twitch and start looking at my fabric and thread stash to start planning the stitching marathon that used to be part of my year. I don't do it anymore, but I do celebrate Thanksgiving in October - much to the pleasure of my friends - and I love designs that show the turning of the year. A couple of years ago I worked a stumpwork (raised embroidery) sampler which was based on the theme of the four seasons:
I ran this sampler as a class back in 2012 - we worked all the 'usual suspect' techniques
(needlelace, slips, detached stitches, couching, face, hands, wrapped wires), and I based
my design around the four seasons - lots of fun!
Needle lace makes great acorn cups, and variegated
thread is really shown off in the leaf shape.
A bumper crop of Blackberries! Beads stitched over felt
padding, needlelace over wooden beads, long-and-short
shaded, wired leaves.
A little bit of canvas word does you good! Spider and
Beetle are keeping their distance from each other...
Bullion knots, couronnes, detached buttonhole and
lace scraps make a cheerful grouping. Loved working
velvet stitch on the bee!
Whatever you're up to this week, and wherever you are, I hope you're able to take a little time to celebrate the season with family and friends, and ponder on all the good stuff that's going on around you. I'll set aside a slice of pumpkin pie for you (who am I kidding? I just can't resist pumpkin pie...) Happy Thanksgiving!
Love 'n Hugs,
Kelley