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The sap is rising- Santes Dwynwen & Valentine's




Despite the bitter cold and dark nights (or perhaps because of it...), love is in the air at the end of this month and into the beginning of February. Wales kicks off the romance with Dydd Santes Dwynwen on 25th January (similar to St Valentine's Day on 14th February). The legend of Santes Dwynwen has various forms, my favourite version is this one:
'Dwynwen fell in love with a prince called Maelon Dafodrill, but unfortunately her father had already arranged that she should marry someone else. Dwynwen was so upset that she could not marry Maelon that she begged God to make her forget him. After falling asleep, Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who appeared carrying a sweet potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon and turn him into a block of ice. God then gave three wishes to Dwynwen. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed; her second that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers; and third, that she should never marry' (borrowed from Wikipedia, other versions are available). Afterwards it's thought 'Dwynwen became a nun, fulfilling her wish to never marry, and left for the island of Anglesey to build a Church'. So, not a hugely cheery story but then St Valentine didn't have a very fun time either (none of the Saints seemed to).

These tales and the annual gift-buying compulsion they prompt is a good reason for some romantic makes. Originally, I planned to celebrate the season by making crocheted jammy dodger brooches with little red hearts in the middle. Feeling pleased with myself I embarked on making a few prototypes. Somehow it turned into a battle of wills between me and the wool which I definitely lost. There are 3 layers to each dodger which need to fit together in the right proportions and the open ring of the top layer somehow made this far more complicated than anticipated and the heart shapes turned out decidedly wonky. After proving frustratingly difficult (I'm sure it's not really that tricky), I gave up to divert my energies onto a more satisfying project.

Sticking with the hearts/ sweet treats theme, I've instead made Love Heart brooches inspired by Swizzels 'Love Hearts' sweets. These oddly pharmaceutical sweets must be familiar to everyone from their playground days (I say this confidently as I think they've been around since the 1930s) and now often adored by couples looking for personalised wedding favours. I'm not too keen on things made of sheets of pre-made felt as I think it's often used as a quick & cheap way to produce lots of decorations/ brooches etc and somehow doesn't feel special enough for handmade items. I much prefer the look as well as the making of needle felted items where pretty things are created from scratch from colourful fleeces. Far more satisfying and it always produces a unique product. I have however, used pre-made felt for the back of the hearts as it's great to cover the stitches & allow the hearts to be lightly padded. With my new technique of embroidering letters (learned from the TARDIS project), I've stitched a few of the original phrases in English and some Welsh versions. I'd like to acknowledge the help of my Welsh hubbie, Jennifer of Lotti & Wren and Eirian at fab book shop Palas Prints (http://palasprint.com/) for assisting with the Welsh phrases, their suggestions were much appreciated!  I'm most pleased with them and delighted that they have a good home at my favourite shop, Lotti & Wren in Caernarfon www.facebook.com/lottiandwren?ref=ts&fref=ts £8.50 each. I'll be adding them to my Folksy page very soon!

Also, I've indulged my love of cakes by making a few love themed crochet cupcakes. I hope they tempt anyone looking for cute and slightly unusual Santes Dwynwen or Valentine's gifts. These are now nestling amongst the many other lovely things in Lotti & Wren. I loved making these and will be making many more to my pattern (which worked out a lot more successfully than the jammy dodger ones!).

But, I hear you cry, life is not all soppiness and romance. Indeed not (and would be fairly boring if it were), so next time I'll be introducing my anti-Valentines item, Jack the (needle felted). Love Rat. I just need to finish his tiny top hat...

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